Every brand starts with a story. And most stories seed from a purpose. From the look of your website to the tone of your email campaigns, your brand will have to answer one question: Why does it exist?
If you are here to read about ‘building’ a brand strategy from scratch, or looking for a hack to give your existing one a clear goal, you’ve come to the right place. For the record, an impressive brand strategy does everything above but better.
Simply put, you need to choose between picking the normal way to sell the unusual OR normalising the unusual. The way I see it is that successful brands set the agenda by doing one of these two.
Imagine sugar in tea – the normal way of blending something so ordinary, but familiar. But what if there was tea in your sugar? That’s exactly what brand strategies try to do – offer something that’s familiar, but also one that stands out.
Sugar in Tea or Tea in Sugar? Let’s break them down.
Scenario 1 – Sugar in Tea
At some point, every founder, marketer and strategist faces this question. What they need to really think about is – why should your brand keep doing this?
Most brands align well with the conventional standards, but others strike a balance between rewriting the rules yet keeping it normal.
When your business can bring a never-before-seen value to the table, things start changing up. This puts up a new spin on the brand. Customers invest their trust in what seems to be true and believable. Big risks and bold moves are what will shake the ‘normal’ to bring out the best in them.
Scenario 2 – Tea in Sugar
With the world evolving every second, people are drawn towards good change. When there’s tea in sugar, there grows a spark around what’s new. The change is inherently unconventional, and the goal is to make it familiar and easy to trust.
Most of these radical businesses don't fail because of poor products, it’s because people simply don't ‘get it’. When your brand interprets products in multiple ways, it creates a wave of confusion instead of clarity.
The successful brands don't come with fireworks, they slip in seamlessly that we barely notice the shift.
The power lies in guiding people through so that they lean towards the new. A silent integration is what ‘tea in sugar’ situations are about.
Both approaches work — but only if you commit to the right one.
When should your brand blend in ?
It’s wonderful to see so many entrepreneurs, especially women, stepping up and venturing into their own businesses. But this comes with a price - a crowded online space making it a tougher-than- ever situation. Brands will have to cut through the noise and put themselves on a pedestal.
Trying too hard can backfire, and your brand needn't be loud to win. Getting your brand to blend in works when the industry relies on trust and stability. When customers prioritise reliability over brand novelty, they experience a familiar experience – think healthcare or cybersecurity. Too much disruption can cause friction. And that burns.
However, some brands are just not cut out for radical changes, and in those cases a strategic rollout often outperforms a rigid shake up.
Make an impact, but don't force the volume.
What most brands don't understand is - they can strategise better to stand out without being annoying. Brands- big and small are jumping on every viral post, but they don't add anything that carries value. Comment fatigue is real, but brands just need to learn to engage with a purpose without chasing visibility.
For example, when Spotify entered the market, piracy spread like wildfire. The brand played it cool by positioning itself as the logical evolution of music consumption instead of rebelling against the system. Spotify offered a familiar experience but with unlimited access.
Blending in is not about being ‘boring’. When done right, it builds credibility and makes adoption effortless. And Spotify did just that.
If you want to blend in, you need to go all out on your experiences, beliefs, and perspectives. Why ? Because no one else is going to talk about your exact story. This will make you and your brand unforgettable to the right customer base.
When all that you do is share tips or content sounding like a robot, your brand will fade into the background. Sure, people can google information anytime, but when they come to you, they come because they want your unique take on it.
Here’s the thing, building your brand by mirroring someone else completely loses the plot. If you’re choosing to do that, you’re bound to feel out of alignment and most likely, your audience will pick up on it.
Do you know what’s even worse? You might attract the wrong clients—the ones who aren’t actually the right fit for you.
Like what you see? Then don’t copy.
In all honesty, it's not easy to see what people think of your brand. Your own voice, style and perspectives come with blind spots, whether you like it or not. This does not give you license to look at your favourite brands and start copying their strategies. Doing that will make you ‘just another brand’.
An example I could think of is Apple’s approach to personal branding and authenticity. Apple did not copy what other phone manufacturers were doing. Apple did not scream for attention or oversaturate the market with random features. Apple positioned itself as a lifestyle brand that stood for simplicity, creativity and smooth user experience. Steve Jobs sold his vision of innovation wrapped with elegance.
Instead of chasing trends, Apple built trust by staying true to what they started- a brand that resonated with their ideal audience. They stuck to their core values, which turned their customers into a loyal community.
Brands that have the ability to blend in with user habits while still standing out as the premium choice are what cements their dominance in the industry.
Spotify and Apple are two brands to prove that you don’t have to keep making noise to win—you just have to be intentional.
Show up unfiltered, build trust and create genuine connections. Half the battle can be won when you turn your audience into a true community. This is what will inspire them to choose you over another brand.
When people pick you, you’re giving them a solid reason to do so. You bring opportunities, impact and a bag full of income on to the table.
When your brand should break the rules
Interestingly, some brands rewrite the rules, not break them. This is how they win. Disruption works well when the market is stale and customers crave fresh approaches.
True disruption isn't about being different for the sake of it. It works when your brand genuinely challenges the industrial norms. Today, it’s all about staying agile. If brands have to survive in this cutthroat world, they need to move fast and adapt.
Take Red Bull for example. Common energy drinks are positioned like sports drinks- functional. Performance- focused and marketed to athletes. Red Bull gave it ‘wings’ and flew a mile extra. Instead of selling itself as a drink, they sold an identity- Extreme sports, high energy lifestyles, and pushing limits. As a result, the brand grew bigger than the product itself.
Gone are the days of budgets and thousands of dollars being spent on advertising. Most likely, a bulky chunk of this will be wasted. Just don’t pour everything into ads, instead, dive into the real power of your brand. Use your people – your employees are your biggest ambassadors! When they share their experience and stories, your brand gains millions of organic touchpoints. This has a real impact, and this happens when your team lives and breathes your brand.
Your brand , your rules
Breaking the rules in branding runs much deeper. It’s about redefining how a business operates at its core. When rule-breakers align with the right cause, they drive real change. Authenticity wins every time.
For the longest time, talking about feminine hygiene products was considered a taboo. U by Kotex is a stunning example of a brand that shunned the norm—and won. When you walk down any feminine care aisle in stores, your eyes get lost in pastel hues with women twirling in pretty white dresses. The same outdated message, but in different packaging. It does not reflect reality. Kotex sensed the disconnect, flipped the script and went bold- all out. Neon accents, black packaging with messages that were real. They ran ads that called out the cliches, and menstruators saw the authenticity in the products. U by Kotex shifted the conversation and this made it unforgettable.
The disruption happens when creativity takes lead- push boundaries, and bring bold ideas to life instead of playing it safe. Give space to build something that isn't shackled by arbitrary rules. Whether the words are sharp and minimal or rich and flowy, define what your brand stands for. The words will speak for themselves - it's about crafting what you envision.
You will set your brand in stone when there’s nowhere to go when the market or culture takes a turn.
So which path should your brand take?
As your brand, make this decision clear – how far are you willing to go? The answer to this question is individual to your brand.
Figuring out your path won’t hand you a step-by-step guide, but it will show you where you need to draw the line.
If your brand revolves around healthcare, finance or legal currency, consider trust to guide your brand. Big, bold moves can backfire, whereas blending in, but doing it better is your best move.
But if your brand focuses on fashion, media or upcoming tech innovation, disrupt your way through. It might be your only way through to win over your competitors.
A cheat sheet that may help you decide what’s good for your brand:
- Do your customers crave stability or are they looking for something new?
- Can you disrupt the normal without confusing or leaving your audience blank?
Is your brand actively solving a problem or just being different to fit in?
A final note – don’t get lost midway.
Your brand strategy is like the foundation of a house. It doesn't matter if the layout is spacious, has expensive furniture and all the right decor – when there’s a trace of weakness in the foundation, the whole of what you built will come crumbling down.
The brands that win commit fully to their strategy from day one – whether by blending in or breaking the normal. When your brand hesitates, your customer base will already sense it.
So make the call. Blend in with a purpose and disrupt with all your might. Don’t just sit on the fence, build a brand that people will choose.
If you’ve made it this far, I’ll assume you actually care about your brand. Good – because brands don’t just ‘happen.’ The best ones (or at least the ones worth remembering) pick a lane and own it from day one. So, what’s it going to be? If you’re serious about a strategy that works, let’s talk.
