We have all been in a position where we have been distracted and unfocused in what we are trying to do or what we hope to accomplish.
What happens when this occurs is that we really have a difficult time figuring out where we want to put our attention or accomplish.
The same can happen to your brand.
A great brand needs a degree of focus.
By focus, I mean that your brand needs to convey a certain point of view and a certain amount of targeting of an area or group.
Take rap music, for instance.
Back in the 1980s when rap first started to gain air play, the music wasn’t mainstream and it was unlikely that some of the first hit rap songs like “Basketball” were known to the wider world in a way that something like a hit at the time by someone like Billy Joel or Cyndi Lauper might have been.
Fast forward about 30 years and hip hop artists are some of the biggest stars that we have and they are often hitmakers that have ubiquitous airplay, streaming, and downloads.
And, even as music has changed, the root of rap music and its POV have stayed fairly consistent as a voice and artistic form of urban expression.
While the rap music example might be tortured, having a focus on a specific area or POV does give you a chance to win converts and have an audience that knows you are speaking to them.
So how do you focus your own brand efforts?
1. Don’t try to be everything to everyone:
Remember that old Everclear song about “trying to be everything to everyone?”
That’s okay, not many people likely do, but it gives us a good example of what not to do.
I am fond of telling my clients that if your market is everyone, it is no one.
So try to pick a market and stay with it.
2. Don’t be afraid of being unique:
Alan Weiss is known as “the contrarian consultant” and he speaks often about having a unique point of view, especially as the market has become more and more crowded.
You need to take this principle to heart because if a company wants the same old thing, they have a lot of options to choose from.
So don’t be afraid to have a POV and to share that with the world.
3. Always check your work:
You should be reviewing your branding and marketing efforts pretty consistently to make sure that the assumptions you have been making are true.
How often is often?
That’s up to debate, but I try to never go more than 6 months without checking my work.