The Secrets to Knockout Branding
Hellooo I’m Ben – international man of mystery, future Oscar winner & all-round hotshot. When I’m not neck deep in all sorts of classified shenanigans, I also do graphic design as part of the M&C team here at TD. One of the big things I’ve noticed in my years of designing is the mystery surrounding what ‘branding’ actually is. So, as I sit here typing before you, let me set things straight. The most apt & reasonable comparison I can make to help illustrate my point just so happens to be one of my favourite past times: combat sports!?
Absolutely wild stuff I know – what is this guy on about comparing fighting and branding??? Just stick with me here, folks, there is method to me madness &, maybe just maybe, a lil’ knowledge & wisdom sprinkled in there too.
Tip of the Iceberg
So where on God’s green earth am I going with this? Well, there’s a common misconception that combat sports are just bloody brawls about who can hit who harder, a spectacle of violence rather than skill. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
There’s so much more to analyse when you start to look closer at the details. For instance, boxing is often referred to as the ‘sweet science’. This is because a boxer goes into the ring with strategy & gameplans after weeks & weeks of preparation, drilling footwork, timing, space management, head movement, parrying, conditioning, and so on and so on. All of these different meticulous details culminate into their overall performance. Everything they do is done with intent – a physical chess match where brawn & brains coalesce into a beautiful dance.
The same can be said for branding. On the surface it may seem that it’s maybe just your logo & your colours. However, it’s so much more than that, it’s anything and everything that your patients interact with no matter how big or small. Your tone of voice, visual identity, typography, patient experience, social media, emails, reviews, websites etc. all combine to create an overall emotional connection between patient & practice. That emotional connection is your brand.
So how do we create a brand that is world champ worthy?
Competitor Analysis
The greats of combat sports all had something that the others didn’t. For example, Muhammed Ali became champ because he brought incredibly slick footwork and speed to the ring – something that was unheard of for heavyweights of the time. He’s now widely regarded as one of the best athletes, let alone boxers, to ever walk this planet.
Khabib Nurmagamedov brought a combat sambo-style wrestling to the lightweight division that directly countered the stand-up heavy fighters that dominated the rankings of that time. This led to him physically dominating his opponents with a pressure like no other, only losing two rounds in his entire UFC career & retiring undefeated after defending his belt 3 times.
All this to say that great combat fighters identify the gaps of their competition, work on creating unique styles & double down on what they’re good at, pushing to be levels above the rest.
Once again, the same can be said for practices aiming to create the best brand, experience & treatments possible for their patients. It’s important to identify both what your local competitors are doing and how they’re doing it. Is there something they’re not doing? A patient pain point that isn’t being addressed? Is there something that you do better than these practices? Ask yourself these questions and then use the answers to help guide both your brand & marketing strategy to help stand out from your competition. Remember patients need a reason to feel like your practice is the best option for them.
Curating Taste
The average person interacts with between 4,000 & 10,000 brand messages per day(!) without even realising it. Once you start to recognise this, you can begin to cut through the noise, identify what brands actually captivate your attention & create emotional responses. You can then begin to look at what they’re doing effectively & how they’re doing it. Take elements you like from all these different brands and begin to apply this within your own practice’s branding. Don’t worry if you don’t have the means to apply it yet; simply curating a taste for good branding will habitually help to influence and improve your branding. Over time this will help evolve your practice’s brand into something that your patients can really resonate with and be proud to be associated with.
This is exactly what combat sports athletes do when trying to improve and hone their craft. They identify what skills they want to learn & improve upon from watching other great athletes, and then they slowly over time begin to learn and implement these skills into their arsenal as they grow to become the best fighters possible. It’s a constant cycle of identifying, learning & implementing them as they evolve, becoming an amalgamation of all their inspiration & taking on a unique style of their own to bring to their competition.
The Pazmanian Devil
The final thought I want to leave you with extends beyond branding. This is an image of Vinny Paz training with a halo screwed into his skull. This was only 3 months after getting in a head on collision and being told he’d likely never walk again. Three years later he became Super Middleweight Champion of the world. Anything is possible.
Hope you enjoyed le blog and have a blessed rest of your day (:
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