Why You Should Stop Comparing Your Brand To Nike, Coke, Apple, Etc.

Stop comparing your brand to Nike, Coke, Apple, etc.

Their marketing playbook isn't going to work for your brand.

Those are established brands and most people have experienced their products.

Those mega brands were established in a time before the internet when TV ads were more common and not skippable.

Consumers have changed. 

Marketing has changed.

The whole world has changed.

There are more small brands competing for attention than ever before.

‍Most modern ads are completely skippable.

You have to make people *want* to watch.

Your ads must answer the question "What's in it for me?"

If you fail at that, you're wasting money.

In social ads, your branding/logo/colors do not make net new people want to watch.

People don't want to see your ads.

We see so many ads that our brains learn to avoid them subconsciously.

Most social ads fail to get past the viewer's subconscious ad blockers.

Branding is one of the most obvious triggers to the brain when the viewer is seeing an ad.

The difference in performance between an ad succeeding and failing is significant.

Ask any media buyer about the gap between their best-performing ad and their worst recent ad test.

It's a bigger gap than you think.

You might read this and think I'm anti-brands or anti-branding. 

I'm not.

Deep down, I really care about branding and building brands.

I've spent enough money on advertising to know that prioritizing traditional brand objectives with your ads is counterintuitive to growth.

Yes, you should feature your brand and product in your ads, but they shouldn't be the key focus.

Your entire ad should not be plastered with overlays of your brand's fonts, colors, taglines, or logo. Especially in the first 3 seconds.

Sure, your existing customers/fans/followers who are familiar with your brand will gravitate to your more branded content.

Don't mistake that for *everyone* liking your branded content.

This mistake hinders net new growth and is very common in startups that plateau.

If you want your brand to grow, you must remember that:

1. Few people know about your brand

2. Fewer people care about your brand

3. Even fewer have *experienced* it.

Your goal should be to get people to *experience* your brand/product, not just see the pretty logo and colors.

Don't expect to build brand equity or loyalty by simply increasing your ad reach or frequency.

Quality > quantity.

Build brand loyalty by having a brand AND a product that people are familiar with and enjoy.

Being less branded and more authentic with your ads allows more viewers to understand the experience of your brand and product.

Your ads aren't the only brand touch-point, they're just the lure to get new consumers in.

Once you grab people with your ads, they'll experience your brand through your site, emails, your packaging, and using the product.

That's where loyalty really builds.

If you take away one thing from this thread, it's to try easing up on the branding in your social ads a little bit.

That's it. That's the thread. You made it to the end!

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I'm eager to hear your thoughts about brands! If you think I'm wrong, let me know what I missed or how I can improve!

I'm not opposed to including branding elements in ads, I'm opposed to over-focusing on branding in (social) ads to the point where it deters people from watching the ad.

What if I told you:

-Unbranded UGC Ad A had a $50 CAC and >50% of users watch >3 sec

-Branded polished Ad B had a $250 CAC and <10% of users watch >3 sec

Which would you prefer?

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