Don’t you love the blogosphere around December / January? It’s when all the “Top 10 Trends in design/marketing/business in [insert new year]” are forecast. People make wild assumptions about almost anything and the future of everything.
Being only October, let’s put away the crystal ball and look at a current trend in small business branding. Now. As it’s happening. Living and breathing.
Everyone loves ‘new’. Who doesn’t love a shiny new toy? Consumers do. As consumers, we are so taken by ‘new’ that we have become attracted to unproven and unknown brands the way we were once attracted to faithful, established brands in the past. In fact, ‘established’ is often just another word for tired. The future belongs to: Clean Slate Brands.
Newer, better, faster, cleaner, more open and responsive; consumers are rushing to Clean Slate Brands and are now lavishing love and trust on brands without heritage and history.
Heritage is so 2012: Drivers of the Clean Slate Brand
We love NEW. NOW
There is no getting around it – we are fixated on the ‘new’. Thanks to innovation and our love of entrepreneurship (here, here!), brands and individuals are now working to launch new products and services, that are better, faster and stronger than what is currently available. Simple.
Ego
We have become driven by the status and excitement of being ultra-early adopters, the connection to the product and the story, and the increased relevance that niche products can offer. As much of us would never admit it, nothing gives us more pride than an update on Facebook with THE newest [insert relevant product/service/venue/experience here].
Instant trust
Brand as a concept is based on the idea that consumers need to attach to a trusted entity (eked out over time) to help them differentiate in a crowded market. But this idea is becoming fast forgotten thanks to the transparency of social media and the urge of customers to review and critique everything in real-time.
What next?
The Clean Slate Brand trend won’t annihilate all brands with history. But The Clean Slate Brand trend is driven by a profound shift in consumer preferences, and as such should get entrepreneur‘s juices going, while at the same time making us instantly question the attitude, tone, structure and approach of their current brand.
Learn from our clean slate friends:
- Learn from the excitement and buzz that Clean Slate Brands create. Seize the opportunity to do things with a fresh approach.
- Reduce complexity: Take a leaf from our book and KEEP IT SIMPLE.
- Speak with authenticity and authority. Have something interesting to say that will connect your brand with your audience.
Will 2014 be a clean slate for your brand? (pardon the pun).
See you next week
Darnelle
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Next week: We talk about how to charm your customers with an alluring brand message.
