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Want to acid test your brand? Write a case study.
We think we know how our brand is perceived. After all, we craft the messages. Pick the images. And even see how people react to and interact with it. But do we really know why they choose to engage with our brand?
Could there be a surprising disconnect between what we think of the brand and what our customers/clients think?
This really came into focus for me recently as I was working on a case study for a client.
Differing views
An interesting thing happens when you talk with (interview) a customer for a case study. You may discover that their perceptions don’t quite line up with how you hope to position your brand.
In my recent experience, the brand I was working with wanted to focus on technology and innovation that help create community. Rather than repeat that back to us, the client wanted to focus on how competitive the price was.
While it’s always good to have a competitive advantage, there is a real danger in being known as the ‘low-cost leader’. It can hamper your ability to innovate and then charge appropriately for those innovations. Worse yet, if price becomes the lead, it can turn your brand into a commodity. Yikes.
