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Using "brand" as way to differentiate myself from the market

NoStupidQuestion

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I'm based in the UK and I'm planning on starting an e-commerce business in a competitive but growing market.The entry (as with many e-commerce businesses) is a matter of buying product at one price and selling it at another. Ultimately, the products are variations of the same thing. So in order to differentiate myself, would the idea of using a brand with particular traits be a smart move? (Intuitively, of course it would, but I kind of need some guidance).

As I said, the products are already being sold in many different permutations, but there is a dearth of quality brands in the area.

I guess I want to be a re-seller AND create my own branded products. Good idea?

Thanks
 
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Bubbles

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branding definitely can help differentiate your company from the rest.
branding is like the higher level strategy for your business.
i'd call it the company's attempt to shape people's perception of what the company is about. In that attempt, it'll create a pull(or push) factor with a certain demographic.
the stronger the pull factor you have with a selected group of audience, the more likely they will choose to spend their money on your product instead of your competitor.
identify who your target audience is, then shape your strategies towards them.
 

NoStupidQuestion

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Thanks.

What advice would you give about selling our own branded product alongside other brands' products?
 

Bubbles

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Thanks.

What advice would you give about selling our own branded product alongside other brands' products?
Craft your entire brand to target a demo that competitors don't cover, or don't cover well enough.
If it's still too saturated, hypertarget.
theres almost always a way to present your brand that appeals to a specific target audience. through the brand tone and voice, the product features, the way you sell, the pricing, the customer service you provide. they should all align nicely
 
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PizzaOnTheRoof

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I agree with @Bubbles

Can you drill down into a niche demo and brand it specifically for them?

Are there benefits to your product for people outside of your competitors target demo?

Ex: Mechanical keyboards are generally targeted toward gamers. Pivot your marketing to old people with arthritis instead. Sprinkle some value adds like big letters and tech support.
 

NoStupidQuestion

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Hi Bubbles, thanks for your response.

The product itself is fairly niche, so finding a micro-niche by demographic is more difficult. I more wanted to focus on quality of my brand/website, quality of my product choice (resale products and my own) and quality of my offering in terms of buying experience and to a lesser extent price. Does that sound viable?

Also, would it make sense to launch my own products with the resale products simultaneously, or one or the other first?

Thanks
 

NoStupidQuestion

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So I’ve managed to get in touch with a branding/marketing agency who specialise in my particular field.

Would working with such an agency even be worth it though? I mean if it was free then of course it would be, but it’s obviously not going to be.

Pros:
- They have access to up to date market research and experience using it to achieve outcomes
- They have experience in this field

Cons
- Cost will probably be excessive

It all seems too straightforward to be true.

- I have a supplier
- I have potential help with branding
- I know the product sells in a vacuum, but not specific product/brand range - so this is what I obviously need to test.

Before I can test though, I need the website/branding to look right. I refuse to do a basic landing page because it’s somewhat of a luxury brand that I want to create from the off.

Can you plug some holes in my thought process/ideas?
 
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Blackman

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If you know the market/products well and have ideas of how you could potentially improve the product in the long term, then starting with your own brand, despite selling the same product as everyone else is not a bad idea.

However, if you plan on selling the same thing as everyone else all the time, but with a different name slapped on it, I'm not sure if that will last long or will take off in the first place.

Also I would suggest you look more closely into other brands - are they really selling the same thing or their products differ technically from each other?

You don't need to re-invent the wheel, but small improvements can often make a big difference.
 

Walter Hay

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identify who your target audience is, then shape your strategies towards them.
This should be your first step. You have to get inside the heads of your potential customers. Think like them. Dream like they do. If you can identify the emotional factors that will tie them to your version of the product, you will know what strategies to adopt.

Appeal to those emotions in your brand name, logo, slogan, color, labels, packaging, website, and eCommerce platform listings.

Emotions outsell facts by a huge margin. Even using the right color can give you a big edge.
However, if you plan on selling the same thing as everyone else all the time, but with a different name slapped on it, I'm not sure if that will last long or will take off in the first place.
That is a good point. If your brand is differentiated simply by being Joe's Product X, not Jim's Product X, your buyers could choose while blindfolded. Unfortunately, "slapping on a sticker" is taught by many amateur PL gurus.

Your question is really about marketing your product, and just so that nobody thinks I am simply talking about advertising (which I am not) I suggest you have a look at my reply here:
RANT The Supremacy of Selling

Walter
 
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Bud Fox

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Bad idea. A nice logo and brand isn’t going to make you rich or much different at all in a red ocean of saturation (which it’s sounds like this is). Read Unscripted ASAP.

Find a niche, a vertical you can get a piece of the market in, a reliable source for the product, etc.

Also, have you ever ran an ecomm business before? I think I know the answer, so first step would be to spend, say, 50 hours on YouTube and Udemy etc and learn about the different platforms, suppliers, order fulfillment, ADVERTISING, etc. FIRST...

My two cents...
 

NoStupidQuestion

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After reading the thread Walter posted and taking Bud Fox’s comment seriously, my partner and I realised that it’s not a branding problem we have, it’s a product development problem. We would have to create a new product with different properties to succeed in the currently competitive market. So we’ve decided to consider changing our business model to a subscription box model and curating boxes containing other people’s products - there is currently none facing the demographic we want to offer to, and given the proliferation of these at the moment, it seems only a matter of time before one exists. There are many upsides to creating this sort of model, and of course, many downsides - retention and differentiation being the major two.
 
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Bud Fox

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After reading the thread Walter posted and taking Bud Fox’s comment seriously, my partner and I realised that it’s not a branding problem we have, it’s a product development problem. We would have to create a new product with different properties to succeed in the currently competitive market. So we’ve decided to consider changing our business model to a subscription box model and curating boxes containing other people’s products - there is currently none facing the demographic we want to offer to, and given the proliferation of these at the moment, it seems only a matter of time before one exists. There are many upsides to creating this sort of model, and of course, many downsides - retention and differentiation being the major two.

Now we're talking...Good luck!

If I could suggest a book (and can all but guarantee you and your partner love it) it would be 'Choose' by Ryan Levesque. Order it today. He has another book called 'Ask,' which is excellent, but more for info-products and service businesses IMO...Choose is the one you want, and will definitely learn a TON from...Esp when jumping into ecomm and deciding what to offer as a product/offering.

 

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