The digitization of commerce has, for better or worse, given consumers an infinite number of product options to choose from.
While ostensibly a good thing for consumers — who doesn’t like to peruse the goods? — the situation poses a challenge for brands. It’s hard to differentiate when you have an endless number of competitors and consumers are easily able to comparison shop between them. The internet has a flattening effect on content, with everything being thrown into the same wall of sound, and it’s arguably never been harder to build and maintain a brand.
“It’s less about whether people like brands anymore; it’s whether people will pay more for brands they want,” David Berkowitz, ad industry veteran and founder of the AI Marketers Guild, tells The Outcome.
Large e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Temu list all possible purchase items on the same search results web page, where it’s difficult for brand messaging to shine through. Consumers can ignore the branding and buy purely based on price and perceived value. There has arguably never been more competition for a consumer’s attention and pocketbook.
Some branding experts say that the sea of sameness only accentuates the importance of branding. Having a well-defined brand that clearly articulates its brand values is the only way to stand out and attract repeat customers, they say.
Kevin Gould, co-founder of beauty brands Glamnetic and INH Hair, says the increased competition has raised the stakes for all brands looking to attract customers. “Table stakes now is you have to have a high-quality product. If not, it will be short-lived and eventually dead in the water. It’s too competitive.”
Data provided purchase platform Attain confirms brands do, indeed, matter. The burger chain with the highest purchase frequency among customers is McDonald’s, one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
For soft drinks, established brands Coca-Cola and Pepsi have significantly higher purchase frequencies than newcomers Olipop and Poppi.
Consumers say it themselves: when asked, 71 percent of consumers say they trust brand names.
Even when a brand makes a quality product, it still needs to set itself apart from the competition, and the best way to do that is through brand and community, Gould says. “You want people to be connected to the brand, feel like there's a purpose and true meaning to what the brand is putting out there through content, and feel a connection to it.”
Forging that connection is easier said than done, especially for legacy brands that are accustomed to advertising through legacy media. Gen Z consumers know nothing but endless social media feeds where, once again, content is commoditized and it’s tough for brands to make a name for themselves.
“If legacy brands aren’t figuring out how to connect with Instagram and TikTok users and listeners of all kinds of podcasts that are way more influential than network or cable TV, there’s a gap that newer, more nimble brands will fill. And those brands can spread rapidly among very social and engaged audiences.” Berkowitz adds.
Meghan Chisholm, senior brand director at swimwear line Fleur de Mal, says Zoomers can be especially loyal customers. “Gen Z consumers have shown us they want to invest in reliable brands that deliver on marketing promises and reliable products,” she says.
In this way, a strong brand can be a welcome solution to customers inundated with purchase options. A recognizable brand also solves what's known as the “paradox of choice.” Market economics would seemingly dictate that consumers want as many options as possible. The more options available, the more likely a consumer is to find the exact product or content they want.
Turns out consumers don’t want total freedom to choose. When faced with too many options, people enter “decision paralysis.” The sheer number of options available overwhelms them. They spend too much time weighing all the possible choices and fail to make one, a state known as decision paralysis. (Anyone who has fired up Netflix with the intent of having a movie night, only to spend an hour plus toggling through all the titles, unable to just pick one, is intimately familiar with this phenomenon.)
For Andrew Cagan, CEO of marketing agency Fractional Brand Building, the market is ripe for high-end brands to differentiate themselves from the pack.
“When you’re shopping for a commodity product, brand matters a whole lot less. It really doesn’t matter what the company’s mission is,” Gould says. “But when I buy bikes for my kids? Totally different story. That’s a highly considered purchase. I need that bike to be reputable, safe, warrantied, and if I’m being honest, I need it to communicate to other parents that I’m the type of dad I aspire to be.
“And that’s the thing we tend to forget: the job of a brand is to make people care, not to differentiate within the store.”
