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3 Things That Keep You From Creating an Exceptional Brand and How to Overcome Them

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Competition is tight and you’re not sure where to start. It feels like you’ll never be able to charge more for your products and services. If winning the hearts of your customers is your most painful challenge, then it’s time to focus on your branding. So what are the common pitfalls when it comes to building a memorable brand?

Here are the top 3 things that are keeping you from your branding success and how you can overcome them.

1. Focusing on the tangibles

A brand is not a logo, a custom font, or a color palette. These are only visual cues. One of the biggest misconceptions about building a brand is that you just commission a logo and that’s it. 

Nope, you can’t build a memorable brand as if you’re just ordering cookies from a cupcake store. It’s all about how people experience your business and what you communicate with them in each step of their buyer’s journey.

How to do it right: A memorable brand starts with asking the right questions. This helps you become inspired to think about your organized strategy. As a new (or expanding business) get to know your core values and beliefs first.

Look within yourself and your organization, guided by these questions:

  • What makes you different?
  • What promise do you make to your stakeholders?
  • What motivates you to keep your feet on the ground?
  • What does your organization believe in?
  • What difference do you want to make?

Once you’ve figured out what inspires your business, you can then create or design experiences that revolve around the core of your brand. What people see – logos, colors, and design – is just one touch point for your brand experiece. How you communicate with your buyers, the words you choose, and the voice you exhibit are all components of your brand.

2. Copying your competition

It is smart to know about your competition. It helps you with marketing analysis and strategy. But if all you’re thinking about is how to become the next Apple or Nike, you’re doing it wrong. The easiest way to start a brand is to follow a proven template and blueprint. But what’s easy isn’t the same as what’s successful or groundbreaking. Take note, great things are great because they’re hard to accomplish.

How to do it right: If you want to make a difference, enter the competition with a vision for innovation. Don’t just blindly follow – master the conventions and old practices, but make sure that you turn things around by the end of the day. Be bold enough to make a difference. Disturb the status quo and become the next leader by breaking established conventions.

Don’t just become a player; learn to make the game your game. Use knowledge of your competitors to your own advantage. Instead of copying how they look and how they do things, ask yourself why this works for them. What’s the principle behind their best practices?

Once you’ve uncovered the essentials of their brand strategy, adapt this to your own business practice and add your own flair – what makes you unique. Want a tip? Take a close look to see what gaps and weaknesses your competitors have. If you can turn some of their weaknesses into your strengths, you already have an advantage over your competition – without necessarily mirroring them.

3. Lack of investment

For new businesses, the cost of branding and marketing can be overwhelming. This is especially true for small businesses that focus on short term gains over long term gains. But did you know that branding is forever, and can be the easiest way to jumpstart your business?

We all know that building authority takes time, even years. But it takes only seconds for a visitor to realize that you have a cheap, unsophisticated, and lousy brand. And I’m sure they won’t give you a second chance to earn their attention ever again.

How to do it right: Invest in a brand and business that you are passionate about. When you truly love and respect what you’re working on, you will naturally develop good taste and see to it that you’re not getting anything sub-standard for your business’ brand.

It’s a myth that good brands must be expensive. With so many independent consultants, creatives, and freelance workers making themselves available, you can build a solid brand without spending your life’s savings at a marketing agency. You can even take it step-by-step and find individuals for each step of the way: brainstorming, strategy planning, designing, writing, and execution.

At all costs, beware of packages and workers who sell $5 logos and $10 website pages. What you put in is what you’ll also get, and it will definitely show if you’re underpaying your workers. Your customers and clients will feel it.

Conclusion

When building a memorable brand, you can’t afford to take shortcuts. You must embed your brand message and identity into every aspect of your business if you want it to become strong and memorable. This will make your business stand the test of time. It’s what people will remember about you when you’ve been in business for years.

It’s how you make a legacy. Your marketing tactics, products, and company size may change, but your brand is forever. So start today by asking yourself: “Why is my business even here?” Then you can look within yourself and know exactly why you were made for success.

Mia Angela Dagsaan is a coffee-lover, content writer, and copywriter for hire. Through writing, she helps businesses showcase their competitive edge and optimize their marketing efforts. She’s a total nerd on subjects like digital marketing, design, content, and branding. When not working around words, she goes surfing and enjoys nature. Find out more about what she does at miawrites.co or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Business

The Entrepreneur’s Reading List That Transforms Ideas Into Empires

These must-read titles and writing insights reveal how entrepreneurs turn bold ideas into empire-level success.

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Entrepreneurship is powered by stories—of accomplishment, failure, and decision moments that define businesses. Books are maps, providing insight from individuals who’ve traversed the road ahead. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025

Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

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In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”

While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.

Why This Gap Exists

Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.

What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.

Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap

Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.

1. Practice Mutual Empathy

Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.

2. Maintain Professional Boundaries

Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.

4. Avoid Micromanagement

Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.

5. Empower Employees to Grow

Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.

6. Communicate in All Directions

Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.

7. Overcome Insecurities

Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.

8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship

True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.

9. Eliminate Favoritism

Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.

10. Recognize Efforts Promptly

Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.

11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews

When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.

12. Provide Leadership Development

Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.

13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles

Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.

The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role

Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:

  • Build diverse talent pipelines

  • Embrace flexible work models

  • Design compelling career paths

  • Simplify HR processes

  • Redefine the value HR brings

The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.

Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff

When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.

Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.

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Entrepreneurs

What Makes an Entrepreneurial Leader? Traits of the World’s Best Innovators

Inside the mindset of entrepreneurial leaders who transform risk, passion, and vision into world-changing results.

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When you think of Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), and Ted Turner (CNN), one thing becomes clear: they are not just entrepreneurs, they are entrepreneurial leaders. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

Building a Business Empire: Lessons from the World’s Boldest Entrepreneurs

Learn essential lessons, success strategies, and mindset shifts every aspiring entrepreneur needs to overcome challenges and build a thriving business.

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Back in July 2017, I attended a business seminar on entrepreneurship in India. With my appetite for learning and meeting new people, I wanted to explore the latest developments in the entrepreneurial world. (more…)

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