Recently, my wife had a sudden craving for a very particular Dutch fried snack. That’s the first time that has happened in our eight years together. So a bit surprised, but not unwilling, I made my way to our local supermarket.

While browsing the vegetarian section, I quickly found out I had two options. It was either gonna be the private label brand, or a well known Unilver brand called The Vegetarian Butcher. Since the latter was twice as expensive, I found my hand reaching for the private label product before I could even give it much thought. But then, I stopped for a second.

If after 8 years we’re finally caving for a deliciously unhealthy deep fried snack, it better be good. If I were to go for the private label option, it would be anyone’s guess whether it would actually taste any good. Especially it being a vegetarian attempt at the real thing seemed to increase chances of being disappointed.

The safe option

Now The Vegetarian Butcher brand on the other hand I actually know. And even though I’ve never had this particular product before, somehow it still felt like the safer option. So there you have it. I paid the price premium, and 15 or so minutes later my wife was happily munching away.

From the way I tell the story, you might think this decision was the result of a rational process I happily took the time for. But it really wasn’t. It was a snap decision, and very much based on intuition. I ended up choosing for the safer option, the brand I was familiar with. And that’s exactly where the value of branding becomes abundantly clear.

Research has shown that consumers are more likely to choose a brand they know over an unknown one. This led authors Les Binet and Sarah Carter to a famous conclusion: branding is a no-brainer. People are even willing to pay more for a brand they know. My deep fried treat is your case in point. 

So it’s safe to say that increased familiarity sets your brand up for success. Whether it’s in a store, online or on the Google search results page. Familiarity is of course the result of consistent visibility. So investing in the visibility of your brand is a no brainer.

How about brand purpose and other high brow marketing speak?

But it can’t just be visibility that counts, right? Surely, your ordinary consumer wants to engage with brands that come with an exceptional story or purpose right? And surely they would want to feel all kinds of special things when thinking of your brand?

Nope. At least not nearly as often as the marketing hoo ha of the last few years has led us to believe.

Next time you’re in a supermarket, just have a look around and see what actual consumers do. When looking at the shelf, their eye is drawn to whatever brand they recognise, or maybe, just maybe, to a packaging design that stands out in particular. Then it’s their brain that starts going on about pricing, and in a matter of seconds, a decision is made.

Should some kind of positive brand association come to mind (‘wasn’t this hummus a bit healthier for some reason?’), that could help, but your average consumer could just as well do without.

Positive associations with your brand aren’t necessary for the purchase decision, but of course they could potentially help. Most notably in case of long sales cycles that come with a long time of consideration or that involve a group decision, for instance when booking a holiday trip.

It might take months to get from an initial idea to actually booking a holiday. That extensive orientation phase offers a chance to work on your visibility as a brand, by maximising the number of touch points in that process. And of course as you do that, you might as well wanna ensure that these moments leave a positive impression. The more often you’ve proven to be positively relevant during that lengthy orientation, the more you increase the chance of actually making a sale once it comes time to purchase.

People don’t care. Even if you’re Nike.

But let's be real. Don’t for a minute forget that you’re the only one thinking about your brand as much as you do. Consumers don’t care at all about brands. Yours is not the exception.

They don’t wake up in the morning all excited to see your latest Instagram post. They’re not telling my friends raving stories about the purpose of their toothpaste brand. Odds are they don’t even know what toothpaste they used this morning. And in the case of big world events (pandemic, war, deceasing monarchs), they won’t impatiently refresh their social feed to find out what brands have to say about it. Not even Nike. Believe it or not, but there’s life without your brand.

So, your brand definitely has significant value for your business, but much less so for your ordinary consumer.