• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Welcome! πŸ˜‰ Here’s a Free Thank You Gift.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
DBD International Logo

Award-winning branding, rebranding and package design

How brands outshine, outlast and outperform their competition

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • About David Brier
    • In The Press
    • Keynote Speaking Engagements
  • Brand Intervention
    • Branding
    • Rebranding
    • Storytelling for Entrepreneurs
    • Leadership
    • Portfolio
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Blog
Brand Relevance: The Most Important Thing to Know About Branding

The Most Important Thing to Know About Branding

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Brand Relevance: The Most Important Thing to Know About BrandingNot all facts are equally important. That’s why any business, any product, any service, and any organization needs the most important thing to know about branding.

Whether you’re talking with Daymond John, Grant Cardone, Gary Vaynerchuk, or any others who are making an impact in the world, they all agree on one fact: Being average sucks with “competing on price” and “blending in” vying for second place.

Those who know me think I am all about differentiation, which is fairly true.

But those who really know me understand I will always ask, β€œIs there more? Is this really the finish line? Or is this really the starting line?”

Gary Vaynerchuk on David Brier

How Different Do You Need To Be To Stay Relevant for Over 5 Decades?

“Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste…”

Just look at Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones who have survived longer than any other rock and roll brand.

That’s right. I said rock and roll brand.

Granted it’s only rock and roll, but I like it.

What’s their secret to dancing in the streets and staying relevant for 58 years?

I spell it out in this week’s One Minute Wednesday.

Why Brand Relevance Is The Most Important Thing to Know About Branding

We’ve all heard the great influencers of today state, “I started with zero followers…” etc.

Well, there’s a correlating fact: we all start at “average” either in 1) skill, expertise, or value or 2) how many know about us or have discovered what we can offer.

This is NO comment on being great, talented, amazing, disruptive, innovative or unbelievably outstanding.

It all has to do with, at the very beginning, we were all “blending in.” (For some of us, that’s a long period, for others it’s fleeting, so DO. NOT. BLINK. Or you may miss it.)

THAT is what I mean by “average.” We’re simply blending in.

If you ever STARTED anything, there was a moment when you blended in.

And then it was YOU who decided, “This is bullshit” and started your ascent to rise above the noise.

It was true for the Rolling Stones. It was true for Gary Vee. It’s true for you and me.

“Sure, We Differentiate. So Why Isn’t Anyone Paying Attention?”

The real question you need to be asking is this: “How much differentiation do I need?”

After you’ve differentiated, you need to establish how remarkable your differentiation is to truly stand apart.

This is the only way your voice gets heard in the world.

  • This applies to personal brands.
  • This applies to physical products.
  • This applies to service brands.
  • This applies to husbands, wives, parents, etc.

In other words, this applies to LIFE.

To give you a helping hand, I put together a powerful scale every brand needs to know (and yes, this is the most important thing to know about branding).

Brand Relevance Original by David Brier

After I completed the original scale, I realized the scale had more steps to achieve going up and more steps that brands descended down to.

In the scale below, please note “Remarkably different” is called that because the degree to which you’re different is “remarkable in the eyes of your customer” and not simply being eccentric or “really different” without any other rhyme or reason.

Brand Relevance Expanded by David Brier

Soon after, I realized just as there was a scale to ascend for the ultimate in Brand Relevance, there was the descent to total Brand Irrelevance. This is how the final scale came about:

Brand Relevance COMPLETE by David Brier

How To Assess Where You Are

Where do you or your brand fall on this scale?

Do this:

  • Look at where your competition is, what they’re offering your potential customers already.
  • With that information, refer back to this final scale and see where you fall.

That will give you the bead on where you truly are.

I leave you with this question: How high will you rise (and shine) today?

If your answer is “I can’t get no satisfaction” β€” let’s talk.

Seriously.Β 

Related articles:

How To Craft an Offer They Can't Refuse
The Best Sign to Post on Your Business' Bathroom Wall
Is Your Brand Dispensable? (And What To Do About It)
Why I was Chosen Instead of Gary Vaynerchuk [Video Proof]
Contact David Brier

Found this helpful? Never miss an issue

Join 7,612+ subscribers who get step-by-step
actionable brand strategies every two weeks

GET INSTANT ACCESS
Ready to defy gravity?

For over 30 years, David Brier has worked with large and small companies and startups that refuse to blend in and want — not only a brand that has something to say but — a brand that demands to be heard: to defy gravity and rise above the noise. Read More…

Discipline
  • Branding
  • Rebranding
  • Storytelling
  • Leadership
  • Portfolio
4 ways I can help you
  • It’s the Entrepreneurs Bible. Yours Free
  • Amazon’s #1 BestSeller “Brand Intervention”
  • Transform Your Business and Brand in 9 weeks
  • Work With Me And My Team :One to One
Subscribe to my branding insights email and get my free e-book on branding
Free Branding Ebook - The Lucky Brand
You Know You Want To!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Log in