The Dangers of Over-Branding

When you're thinking about developing your brand it seems impossible to think that there's such a thing as over-doing it, but guess what? It's possible. And hundreds of companies are doing it every day, from coast to coast and around the world.

Over-branding occurs when you take your brand, target your niche market and become so specific and narrow in your description of what your product or service can do and, more importantly, who it's meant for that you essentially isolate yourself from a huge potential market. People see only what you want them to see in your product and miss the possibilities-and as a result, you miss a potential sale.

Yes, granted, the purpose of marketing is to display the potential use of your product and target your target market to maximize your sales quotient. That shouldn't be all you do. For example, let's say you have a digital camera that can also be used as a digital video recorder. In hyping the potential uses of your video recorder are you also remembering to advertise that this is a digital camera as well? It's possible that there's a huge market out there that would be interested in the diverse possibilities presented by your digital camera that have no interest whatsoever in a digital camcorder (right now).

In over-branding you're going to completely destroy your chances of being able to make a profit off that part of your target audience that's only interested in a digital camera.

Are you beginning to get the picture? When you're developing your brand you want to encourage your customers to see your products the way you do, but you also want to introduce them to its other potential uses as well. Only then can you truly maximize your potential profit.