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Ian Barnard

Why look like you, when you can look like everyone else?

Published 5 months ago • 1 min read

Hi, it's Ian.

I nearly made a big mistake this month... I was seduced by 'the look'.

One of the biggest risks you can take as a brand is looking like everyone else.

Why? Because being distinct helps you stand out, and get remembered and chosen more often.

But most companies do the opposite – they conform to category norms and try to look like their competitors.

Every industry has ‘a look’ – a visual language that shares common design choices and themes.

B2B SaaS has ‘a look’. DTC has ‘a look’.

Even agencies have ‘a look’.

And the power of the look is so strong, even we were nearly seduced by it.

We’re updating our own visual identity, and almost agreed on the concept below until we realized what we were doing.

It looks sleek. Professional. Tasteful. And it screams ‘agency’.

So it’s back to the drawing board, to create something more unique. More different. More us.

Even seasoned marketers like us get seduced by ‘the look’.

But that’s no excuse for giving in to it.


Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can help you:

  1. Positioning: Position your brand so it comes first to mind when customers are ready to buy
  2. Planning: Build the business case for brand marketing and forecast results on the bottom line
  3. Promotion: Reach more customers for less with always-on, digital-first brand campaigns

Thanks for reading,

Ian Barnard
Strategy Director

Creative Business Company
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Ian Barnard

I'm the Strategy Director at the Creative Business Company. Subscribe for marketing guides, insights and deep dives.

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