7 signs your brand lacks focus

Let us start by agreeing that with so many pressures put on organisations, it can be difficult to maintain a strong brand identity. But big-picture focus is the key to long-term success. Most brands bite off more than they can chew and, as a result, fail to connect with anyone in a meaningful way.

So how do you know if your brand is starting to lose focus?

1. Your Target Audience Is Too Broad

When asked to define their target audience, a surprising number of business leaders will respond, “Everyone!” While we appreciate their enthusiasm, we also know that going too broad spells disaster.

By honing in on the people most likely to buy your product or services, you’ll establish a stronger footing in the market faster. You’ll also signify to buyers who you are, what you stand for and what makes your brand unique. At the same time, you should consider who your brand is not for. When brands fail to identify their niche, their messages won’t resonate with their most valuable audiences.

2. Your Brand Lacks Clear Differentiation

With so many brands at risk of falling into obscurity, you should take serious stock of yours to make sure it stands out and sticks with people. A sound strategy should emphasise what sets your brand apart and why customers should choose you over any alternatives. Start by analysing your top competitors; then, determine what white space you should occupy. With a clear brand direction in place, you can then get into building out your full brand strategy — inclusive of positioning, value, props, messaging and more.

3. Your Brand Messaging Is Inconsistent

Clarity, consistency and cohesion are the three Cs that define effective brand communications. If you lack any one of these, you’re probably putting out mixed messages.

Typically, in the brand development process, messaging frameworks follow audience identification. For the most optimal approach, messaging frameworks should include a positioning statement, a brand promise and unique value propositions for each of your main audiences.

With a brand positioning statement in place, you can then document how to modulate the message to resonate with each audience. As part of that, your messaging frameworks should include your core differentiators, key messages and factual proof points.

The ultimate goal of a messaging document is to establish uniform language around your brand’s offerings so that your entire organisation reads from the same page. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to stand out with a voice that’s clear — and clearly yours.

4. You Keep Changing Your Brand Identity

Brands that alter their identity — including logos, color palettes, taglines and more — without a solid rationale only confuse the market. So, if you’re weighing whether you need to revamp or refresh your brand, consider enlisting the help of an outside expert who can objectively assess your brand’s strengths and weaknesses relative to your competitors’.

Of course, some branding initiatives are necessary at times. Perhaps you’re in acquisition mode or expanding into new markets or it could be that you have experienced some sort of crisis in the past, and now you need to hit reset. The list goes on.

These are all smart reasons to pursue a change in your brand direction. But excessive updates will just dilute your market presence and could even cause some people to suspect you’re running from something.

5. Your Products/Services Don’t Feel Connected

Organisations that offer a wide range of unrelated products or services can water down their brand’s identity. Unless you’re clear on your strategy, this will make your marketing messy and cause further consumer confusion.

With that in mind, consider how you’re organising your product and/or service portfolio, both in strategy and in nomenclature. From a brand architecture perspective, are you a house of brands or a branded house? Or perhaps you are applying an endorsed brand strategy. Below is an example of each, all from successful global brands.

Brand architecture example:

House of brands: PepsiCo, which includes 7 Up, Aquafina, Mirinda, Doritos, Sabra, Quaker, Lipton and more

Branded house: Apple, which includes iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple TV and more

Endorsed brand strategy: Kellogg’s, which includes: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, Kellogg’s Special K and more

Once you’ve decided which approach makes the most sense for your brand, either connect the dots or maintain the necessary separation when communicating to the market.

6. Your Customer Experience Is Disjointed

Along with considering how your offerings are organised, you need to think through the experience you provide your customers.

In today’s multichannel world, people interact with brands across several touch points, including websites, social media, brick-and-mortar stores, events and customer support lines. If your brand fails to deliver a consistent and seamless experience across each of these touch points, your customers will feel frustrated and might switch to a competitor.‍

7. You Haven’t Established a Long-Term Vision

Perhaps the most important thing of all is having an inspiring vision for where you want your brand to go — and how everyone plays an important role in getting there.

To help, consider creating a vision/traction organiser (also known as a VTO). This one- to two-page document should include your brand’s core values, focus areas, go-to-market strategy, unique qualifiers and measurable goals for the next three to five years. Succinct as it might be, a VTO will serve as a compass to guide everyone at every level of your organisation.

Last line

When it comes down to it, focus is the core component of your brand’s long-term success. Take an honest look at your organization as it stands today, and ask your prospects and customers how they perceive your brand relative to your competitors. You might be surprised when some red flags start popping up. If they do, fear not. The corrective measures above should help realign your organisation’s strategies while strengthening your brand’s overall identity.