Business Needs Brands To Fight Uncertainty

Larry LightApril 27, 20203 min

Shopping online is increasing as we practice social distancing and self-quarantine against coronavirus. As we make our selections for Instacart or Amazon Prime, we buy brands that we know. We buy these brands not just because we have used them in the past, not just because we understand their benefits and not just because we trust them. We buy these brands because they make decision-making simpler. Familiar brands such as Tide, Kleenex and Lysol are comforting and trusted.

Choosing a familiar, trusted brand simplifies choice. In a complex, over-whelming, over-variety, uncertain environment, brands are “one-think” shopping decisions. Right now, why add more uncertainty to our lives by selecting an unknown or new brand? This is not a time for new brands. It is a good time to build on the strength of brand familiarity and trust.

We are living in an over-choice shopping environment. Just take a stroll down the cereal, pet foods, snack foods, energy bars or toothbrush sections of your local supermarket. We are confronted with choice proliferation at its mightiest.

Where Choice Is A Problem Brands Are The Solution

Brands solve one of the great paradoxes of brand shopping today: the desire for multiple choices and the desire for ease of choice. We like having choices, yet having too many choices increases uncertainty, decreases speed of decision-making, and requires more physical and mental effort. We want more choices, but we want choosing to be easier. One-think shopping alleviates the uncertainty of too much choice while helping a consumer choose wisely. At this time in our collective lives, having confidence about what we are buying is incredibly reassuring.

With one-think shopping, we can quickly make decisions based on the trustworthiness of the brand. A trusted brand is a streamlined roadway through the confusion of choosing. Trustworthiness is part of a brand’s value. Trust is the basis for brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is a powerful advantage in an uncertain environment.

Brands Wield The Power Of One-Think Shopping

One-Think shopping means more effortless decisions: it means easier, faster, trusted decision-making. One-Think shopping means that we do not have to think twice about buying a product or service.

One of the reasons people sought to hoard popular items was not just that they knew these items would be sold out, they wanted to make sure they would not run out of their favorite items, the ones with which they are most comfortable.

The companies that manufacture brands that we know and prefer are reflecting our one-think shopping approach to decision-making in their earnings. We gravitate to our favorite brands for many reasons. But a singular important reason, and one that marketers must always keep in mind, is that brands are one-think shopping. Brands make decision-making easier. Brands take the uncertainty out of shopping. And, the last thing we need more of today is uncertainty.

Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by: Larry Light, CEO of Arcature

At The Blake Project we are helping clients from around the world, in all stages of development, redefine and articulate what makes them competitive at critical moments of change through online strategy workshops. Please email us for more.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Growth and Brand Education

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