Is your brand inviting to a wide and diverse audience? Here's why that's important...
Never underestimate how many people you may be inadvertently putting off.
When you first started your business, perhaps you thought you'd found a niche market and hence, clientele. As a result, (you may not have realised it at the time), you tailored your brand to only attract those particular clients.
But, what if that didn't leave your business room to grow or cast the net for potential clients wide enough?
I pose the following question, what if Nike had only made their brand attractive to premier athletes?
Take a look at their mission statement and look how wonderfully inclusive this is:
Bring Inspiration And Innovation To Every Athlete* In The World
*If You Have A Body, You Are An Athlete.
Yes of course their brand will never appeal to people who only ever want to read books, watch films and play music in their spare time, because they are fundamentally, all about sport. BUT they include everyone who's interested in sport in their brand via the fun little asterisk in their mission statement.
I speak to so many small businesses who think that their brand should be niche. I present the case that your brand should be widely accessible and attractive. It's your marketing that can be niche.
So what do I mean? I spoke to a body confidence coach recently. She had made the assumption that all her clients (rightly or wrongly) would be women. Her brand colour palette and the name of her business was chosen with this in mind. But I worried that by making her visual identity appeal only to women, wasn't she limiting her potential audience? What about casting the net wider with a brand statement like "Get noticed!" and a colour palette which held wider appeal. That would capture both men and women with body confidence issues as well a those who just want to just be seen and heard because they tend to be more of a timid nature. The brand could then have the legs to be much more widely inclusive and her coaching techniques utilised to a greater end.
At that point, she could then target a specific client set through campaign marketing. That's when she could up the appeal to a more female based audience should she wish.
We hear so much about inclusivity and diversity in this world today and yet we often choose to restrict our small businesses' appeal to a very small minority.
So, what should you question as you decide on your brand's identity. Consider these five things:
Mission statement - How can I make this appeal to a wider audience whilst maintaining the ethos of what my business stands for?
Company name - Is it too niche? If I expanded the business would it have room to grow under that name?
Colour palette - Does it represent my business well and what reaction do my colours prevoke?
Imagery - If you're using people photography, are you using a diverse range of models?
Tone of voice - Are you speaking in a tone which feels inclusive across ages and cultures?
It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking small when you are small but if you remember to keep the NIKE brand front of mind, you won't go far wrong. IGNITE can help you with your brand strategy basics. We'll create the architecture to set you off on the right foot to ensure your business has room to grow.
Photo by Finn Hackshaw on Unsplash
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