We are not talking about the lack of personal branding or not having an influencer to represent the company here. Being faceless in the market of millions and millions of labels also means blending in with the crowd, being almost the same as others. A brand that has no face has no place in the customer’s heart. Period.

Many of us have a favorite clothing brand or a shopping chain that we turn to when in need of a new sweater. Many of us have our favorite airline that we choose when flying to another side of the world. And although successful brands in the same sector provide inheritably the same services or products that perform the same function, they are unique.

For example, Ryanair and AirBaltic both are airlines, but they have not only different approaches to the comfort of the plane seats and how the interior of the plane should look, but they position themselves differently when communicating their messages on socials or any other media. One is perceived as a cheap option for travel, and another as providing sustainable, comfortable vehicles to reach your desired destination. But these are big and wealthy brands, and the situation regarding separate sectors is vastly different.

Let’s say you are looking for investment services or someone to manage your accounts. When googling either of those services, many relatively small brands come up, but all of them look quite the same. They all have a hard-to-manage web design, use a shade of blue to reference wealth and money, and present images related to stocks, investing, saving, etc.

Companies copy each other without realizing they become the same over time. When creating a brand, it is beneficial to research your competitors and other brands in the market to see how they are doing business and what characteristics you might obtain, but this must be done in moderation.

Ctrl C and Ctrl V

Picasso once said, “good artists copy, great artists steal,” yet the intellectual property law and us might disagree on this. Not (only) because the intellectual creations must be protected but because of the lack of original branding solutions in some sectors. Because the similarity between brands is what happens when you copy too much.

One idea from an ad you saw a year ago won’t make your brand identical to others, but colors, shapes, fonts, and selling points are most likely to be associated with certain companies. And if these companies are from the same sector, you might certainly be walking the line.

How does this “copying” impact the perception of your business in the eyes of the clients?

Negatively, of course:

• 88% of consumers state that authenticity is important when deciding which brands to support It is not enough to provide a pleasant experience or sell products with the highest quality. You must be honest and create original solutions to attract more customers. So, if everything authentic from your brand is borrowed from another, your business might lead your customers to competitors.
• 76% of consumers expect a consistent experience across different channels when engaging with brands

Yet, if the brand does not have an unparalleled visual identity, design systems, and other parts of a brand strategy tailored to the said business, creating such an experience for the client is almost impossible. The different design style for every social post or ad poster certainly does not correspond to consistency and, to be fair, costs a bit of time, energy, and money.

One of the things that should be remembered is the employees of the company that represent the business in their day-to-day lives. Besides the basic training to fit the sought job position, every employee should know the values and culture of the company, and radiate that to the outside. But if the vision, mission, and other elements of the business are not defined, how can a member of the team be properly prepared?

Ultimately, consumers choose competitors that have better branding. They chose those that have a recognizable face.

A recognizable brand is built through strategy, visual identity, design systems, and applying such solutions to reach the target audience. Consumers need help identifying the characteristics of one company versus a competitor, thus it is vital to take the steps towards it from the beginning: having a clear vision of your business and sticking to it.

It’s easy to lose your face in the market of millions and millions of labels, but _andunicorns can help you find it.