Debranding: Trading More For Less
Brands change just like the seasons do, but instead of being in rhythm with nature –– they’re in rhythm with societal trends and influences. At the introduction of the digital arena, brands were seduced by the vibrance of colors, drop shadows, character illusions, and loud software designs. This is evident in logos circa 2000 — 2010. Now, we are seeing a new trend take shape — a sobriety trend, if you will, called debranding.
Once upon a time a company would request its design team to make their logo bigger, louder, noisier. Now all brands understand that they need to be digital or mobile first and to that well, they must be more subtle, cleaner, simpler, minimal. Gasp. A sobering thought to those early ‘10’s brands. But, debranding extends far beyond just design.
There are many variables to have contributed to this trend that must be considered to understand how we got here. For one thing, considering the digital arena has welcomed all brands to the party to compete for digital real estate and consumer eyeballs, it’s essentially the great equalizer for all companies. It’s not about who has the most advertising dollars, it’s becoming more and more about who knows their audience and who is the better story teller.
Our agency often says to our clients that consumers have a high bullshit radar. It’s not a secret and it’s not an earth-shattering statement. Everyone knows it because we are the consumer. This is a big piece to the puzzle regarding why we find ourselves in a debranding renaissance.
You know the saying ‘everyone has their breaking point’? The same is true outside of personal relationships with customer relationships. There has come a point of oversaturation. No longer is it about what brand can shout the loudest or stand the tallest and command the most attention on the most popular social media platforms. No more says the consumer. No more says I. Now, it’s about who can be more real –– who can hold an authentic conversation with a customer without a hidden agenda or subliminal messaging.
Do you know a brand that can? Riddle me that. It may sound simple and even natural, but you would be surprised how difficult it could be for some brands or salespeople to refrain from, or in some cases restrain themselves from, using their top five fav sales buzzwords.
This oversaturation point that I am referring to has everything to do with the commercialization of everything. As a result, the consumer is nostalgic of the human connection piece that once was so prevalent in the brand experience. Think about it — there was a time when there was a literal milk man who delivered milk to customer’s homes once a week… It doesn’t get more personal than that. But, customers are missing that –– so much so that they have responded to the state of oversaturation by drawing a line in the sand and claiming non-consumption.
It’s not difficult for a brand to talk about how great their offerings are and how much better they are than their competition. Anyone can do it. And so, everyone does do it. And consumers are tired of it and demand authenticity. No bullshit. No buzzwords. All real. All meaning. All value.
This is the essence of debranding –– removing the clutter, trimming the fat, cutting down the tree and returning to the root. Sounds cathartic, doesn’t it? Brands have traveled far away from their root or their ‘why’ and customers are asking them to return to it.
A shoe company does not need to be a self-help expert, too. Likewise, a retail store doesn’t need to offer candle making and astrology services on the side. You see where I am going with this, right? Brands have overstretched themselves so that they can be for everyone, when in fact they forgot who they were for in the first place. It’s okay to be not for everyone. Who is your audience? What is your why? Where is your root?
We tell our next generation to stay true to yourself or just be yourself, and some of these brands might even print that on a t-shirt and sell it at their book shop… The problem is they have forgotten their ‘why’, but if they want to keep their brand’s relationships they will need to find it fast. Theres nothing wrong with doing one, singular thing so long as you are the best at it, that your offerings are the best, that your service is the best, and that you have mastered it to the fullest extend of craftsmanship. Oversaturation is overrated.
Consumers lives need to be simpler not more complex. Real voices, real faces, real dialogue and real craft are replacing what it means to have a brand and operating as the gatekeeper between customer retention and product demand. Consumers don’t need more advertising or branding, I promise you they have had their fill and then some. Instead, debranding trades abundance and questionable quality for less, for simplicity and better quality.
