Build a brand that can’t be ignored
September 11, 2025
Letting your brand blend in is the quickest path to invisibility. Every day, your customers are inundated with countless brands competing for attention. If you want to stand out, you’ve got to be bold, authentic and unforgettable.
Why most brands get ignored
Many businesses think playing it safe is appealing. But watered-down messages and generic content don’t connect with consumers in a meaningful way, causing your brand to be ignored.
You’ve got three chances for consumers to find a reason to care and take notice of your brand:
Reason 1: Is this important? [If no – Ignore.]
Reason 2: Is this interesting? [If no – Ignore.]
Reason 3: Does this make them feel something? [If no – Instantly forget.]
All of this happens in milliseconds, and most businesses fail all three tests. The result? You’re forgotten.
Lead with your beliefs
Memorable brands are built on a foundation of beliefs. When people know what you stand for, they’ll feel a connection. You need to know what sets you apart from everyone else.
How do you explore what sets you apart from the competition? Ask yourself:
What inspired me to start my business?
What problems does my business solve?
What change do I want to make in my industry?
What principles are non-negotiable to me?
What drives me professionally?
Answering these questions will set your foundation. The more you lean into what you believe, the more the right customers will lean toward you.
Live your core values
Core values are the defining principles of your company’s brand, culture and identity. They determine how you do business as well as how your products are created and your services are delivered.
50% of CEOs and CFOs agree that core values influence profitability and growth rates. That’s because a business with values is easier to trust. It means you have a reputation to live up to. And when you inspire trust, you attract more customers and drive business growth faster.
4 ways to ensure your core values resonate with your customers:
Teach it: Make your core values the way of life at the workplace.
Show it: You must lead by example the principles you’re teaching.
Memorable: Make your core values easy to remember.
Revisit: Review from time to time to make sure nothing has changed.
Find your voice
An unforgettable brand has a strong, consistent voice that encompasses your personality, values and emotions in every interaction with your audience. By having a brand voice that reflects your quality, professionalism and authority, you highlight your business’s competence and credibility, and persuade your customers that you deliver on your promises and solve their problems.
Maintaining consistency in your brand voice is essential for building brand recognition and customer loyalty. By establishing tone, language and style guidelines, you make sure your brand voice remains cohesive across all communication channels. Consistency reinforces your brand’s identity and helps customers recognize and trust your brand, leading to increased engagement and commitment over time.
Shape your brand identity
Your brand identity is how customers see and experience your business, from your logo to the way you communicate and provide customer service. It shapes how people recognize, remember and connect with your company.
These three elements shape your brand identity:
Visual identity: The face of your brand.
Colors and symbols all hold meaning. This includes your logo, color palette and fonts, key elements that make your brand recognizable.
Verbal identity: The sound of your brand.
How you communicate matters. Whether your tone is family-friendly, professional or expert, your words set the mindset and build trust.
Experiential elements: The feel of your brand.
Every customer interaction counts. From expert staff and personalized services to secure systems, these experiences define how customers perceive and recognize your brand.
Tell your story
Whether it’s about humble beginnings or passion for a hobby that started it all, your business has a story to tell. It creates an emotional connection between you and your customers. The more authentic and relatable your story is, the stronger the connection you’ll create. That’s why crafting a compelling, transparent story is so meaningful to your brand.
Since your story is what sets your brand apart and motivates customers to choose you, the first step is learning how to develop yours to make an impact.
Here’s how to take your story and turn it into something consumers can’t ignore:
Explain why you do what you do.
What are your mission and values?
Why does your brand exist?
Understand how your product or service fits into your story.
Does it solve a problem?
Is it different from a competitor?
Know your audience.
Who is your current customer?
Who is your ideal customer?
Be concise and clear.
Edit and refine so your story is easy to understand.
Be authentic and memorable.
Include real stories.
People connect with genuine stories, not products or services.
Use stories that exemplify your brand.
Be where it matters
Multichannel advertising promotes your products or services across a variety of platforms — from digital to traditional — to maximize reach and visibility. Each channel works on its own to connect with audiences where they already spend their time, whether that’s social media, search, display, video, print, or broadcast. The goal is broad exposure and brand awareness, ensuring your message gets in front of the right people through multiple avenues. With this approach, your business builds recognition and increases the chances of engagement by showing up consistently across different touchpoints.
Here are a few proven approaches to get noticed by the right people:
Digital Display & Banner Ads: Eye-catching graphics that boost awareness or drive clicks to your site.
Over-the-top (OTT) & Connected TV (CTV): Engage streaming audiences where they watch most – on their TVs, with ads that can also reach phones, tablets and desktops.
Retargeting & Geofencing: Reach the right people at the right place and time with precise, location-based targeting or by re-engaging past site visitors.
Search Engine Marketing: Put your business at the top of search results when customers are actively looking for what you offer.
Social Media Ads: Leverage audience demographics and location targeting to meet customers where they spend their time.
Sponsored Content: Build trust with paid stories that match the look and feel of respected editorial environments.
Streaming Video or Audio: Deliver sight, sound and motion on popular music and video platforms to capture attention in the moment.
Building a brand that can’t be ignored is a result of your intentional strategies and choices. When you lead with your beliefs, live your values and tell your true story, you build a brand that earns attention, trust and loyalty.
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