Marketing mondays: Where do you sit on the brand ladder?

One of the golden rules in business, is to be the first in something. Everybody remembers who was first, think Hertz, Fred Perry and Microsoft. However, this isn't always possible...

People naturally holds brands in a hierarchy order (we like to create order and categorise things so our minds can handle all the information we take on a daily basis). As you can imagine, this order heavily sways the consumers buying decision.

Think of people's brains like a ladder, on each rung there will be a brand name. The higher up the brand, the more likely the customer will buy.

To create a successful marketing strategy you need to figure out there your brand sits on their ladder.

Most businesses don't think of this and don't take into consideration when marketing. Most people will try to market their business, product or service as the No.1. Now, if you're not first on the ladder this strategy will be ineffective.

Why? The buyers mind (whether B2B or B2C) is very selective and informed. The audience will compare the information given to their brand ladder and will only buy in to new data that aligns with their way of thinking.​

This means that if you're not thought of as the first on the ladder, it's difficult to market yourself as No.1 (you might technically be the best but if that perception isn't matched than it doesn't matter. Harsh but true!).

So, if you can't market yourself as No.1 what can you market yourself as? Perhaps, 'we try harder', 'we are faster', 'we are better value' or 'we get better results' etc.

It's been said that the human mind struggles to remember a a list longer than 7.

Think of the length of a mobile number, the 7 danger signs of cancer and The magnification 7!

I know what you're asking! What has this got to do with my audience and brand ladders?!

​Well if people find it difficult to recall something after 7 units, they are more than likely only going to be able to recall 7 brands in each designated category - your ladder is 7 rungs max and you need to be on it!

To summarise, your core audience categories and prioritise brands through a ladder like system. This brand ladder will have close ties with buying decisions and company market share. The higher up the ladder, the more market share and sales you will gain.

Before you make any decisions on your marketing, you need to identify where (if at all) you are on the ladder and then create a strategy that aligns with your position on the ladder.

​In future blogs we'll cover how to do this and how to climb that brand ladder.

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