Are You Building a Brand or Just a Commodity?

When it comes to relationships, Mark Twain’s advice that you shouldn’t make someone a priority if they only consider you an option has become the basis for many a meme and social share. When it comes to business relationships, does it still hold true?

Too many business leaders find themselves in a position of prioritizing customers who only see their organization as an option, because they have failed to differentiate their brand in some meaningful way. Without differentiation that sets a business up as uniquely better in some way that is meaningful to the customer, it remains more or less interchangeable with its competitors.

If you are not building a strong brand, you must sell your goods or services as commodities, over and over again. But sell a customer on your brand, and the work of repeat visits, additional sales, referrals and recommendations is nearly done.

What’s the difference between a strong brand and a mere commodity?

Let’s define the two terms a bit more, so that it’s easier to identify strategies that will help build a strong brand, rather than just a commodity. Investopedia.com defines commodity as: a basic good (item) that is interchangeable with others of the same type. The quality of a given commodity might differ slightly but is essentially uniform across producers.

Investopedia.com explains: “For instance, a barrel of oil is basically the same product, regardless of the producer.” For commodity buyers, the most compelling consideration – and sometimes the only consideration – is price.

When a business or its products or services are perceived merely as commodities – interchangeable with those of competitors – it usually finds itself competing on price, and sometimes becomes a race to the bottom. But competing on price is a race that few organizations can win, especially over time. Sooner or later the bottom drops out and cash flow challenges make staying in the race untenable.

In stark contrast we see the characteristics of a strong brand as noted on Forbes.com as:

• Audience-oriented (and sometimes niche audience-focused)
• Identifiably unique from competitors (in a way that matters to its customers)
• Driven by passionate people
• Creating passionate followers
• Providing a consistent experience across channels and over time
• Maintaining a hunger for growth and progress
• Successfully connecting with their audience
• Imbued with a strong leadership culture and shared values

How can you tell if you’re building a strong brand – or just a commodity?

What about you – would you characterize your organization as having – and pursuing – the characteristics that make for a strong brand, or do you find yourself in the position of being far less important to your customers than they are to you?

No organization can afford to ignore the subject of price, but it should not be the most important way you attract and retain customers. If you aren’t sure whether to believe me, consider the restaurant industry. If price were the most important consideration for a majority of consumers, wouldn’t we all be eating fast food?

Here are a few questions that can help you decide whether you’re promoting commodities or building a strong brand:

• What differentiates your business (products, services, etc.) from those of competitors – and – do those differentiators seem to matter to your target audience?
• Does your brand have a story, and are you telling it?
• Does your vision statement paint a picture of a world that will be a better place by having fulfilled your organization’s mission?
• When you think about “the brand of your business,” what comes to mind – a logo, a leader or a set of shared values and purpose?
• Is your organizational culture conducive to innovation and continual improvement?
• Can the customer expect awesomeness from your business, across channels and every time they do business with you?
• Do you have brand advocates among your customer base who routinely refer friends, family, co-workers, etc. to your business?
• Do your customers engage with you outside of transactions? (On social networks, attending special events, reading email newsletters, etc.)

Doing business day in and day out isn’t enough; building a strong brand only arises from vision, strategy and purposeful action. What do you want your brand to be when it’s all grown up?

You might also like:

• What Does Your Brand Boil Down to? (dbsquaredinc.com)
• If Your Brand Were a Person and Walked Into the Room… (linkedin.com)

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Elizabeth Kraus is the owner of Be InPulse Marketing and the author of 365 Days of Marketing, available on amazon.com.