Brokers are doing nothing but 'saying the same thing a different way', says a leading brand strategist. Here's how the right branding techniques can differentiate your business from the rest.
The majority of brokers are putting their businesses in danger by failing to differentiate themselves in a competitive market, says a leading brand strategist.
Jim Antonopoulos, executive creative director at Tank Branding, says most Australian brokers are simply “marketing the category norm”.
“Essentially, all brokers seem to be saying the same thing in a different way,” he says.
While personal branding and individual client relationships are a crucial part of broking, by focussing solely on this aspect of a brand, brokers all start to appear the same to a consumer, says Antonopoulos.
“They’re really not communicating any competitive advantage other than highly developed personal relationships, and saying ‘my relationships are better than yours’. The category lacks differentiation, and at the end of the day it’s the consumer who is losing because they don’t have a coherent choice between brokers.”
Antonopoulos suggests brokers need to stop trying to be all things to all people, find a niche and focus on it.
“It feels to me like brokers are trying to communicate to everybody, and when you do that you communicate to nobody.”
Brokers who take the time to step back and consider the market and their position within it, might discover “a big canary in a big mine”, says Antonopoulos.
“That broker might sit back and think ‘Right, it’s time to get myself together, hone my message and just talk about one thing to one person’.”
Brokers may still decide to market certain aspects of their business towards different audiences, suggests Antonopoulos, provided each brand focuses on a clear market segment.
“I might decide to create a franchise brand that’s geared to under 40 entrepreneurs, and since I’m in my 50s, I might try and launch my personal brand to attract other people in their 50s because I really understand that age group.”
While honing your brand can bring greater client loyalty, deeper customer relationships, and a higher level of utility to your clients, Antonopoulos warns that it is not something that should be undertaken lightly.
“I think a lot of organisations jump into it with a lack of understanding of what a brand means, and a lack of engagement with people inside their organisation and also basing a lot of decisions on an assumption that you understand who your customers are without actually getting out of the building and talking with the people who consume your product and service; it’s a huge pitfall and we see that a lot.”
While tweaking and updating brands is something good organisations should be doing all the time, the decision to undertake an entire brand overhaul requires “a pretty damn big canary”, says Antonopoulos.
Seeing a greater opportunity in a different market segment, or realising that you have lost sight of your target market or brand identity are some common examples, he says.
Before undertaking a major rebranding exercise, Antonopoulos suggests brokers:
- Have an clear understanding of themselves, their priorities, strategic plan and value of brand assets
- Understand their target market
- Engage staff and include them in the change process
- Ensure teams have a common and aligned understanding of the problem
- Have clear objectives, KPIs and definitions of success to gauge the effectiveness of the change
