To specialise or diversify - that, says our strategic initiatives director, Sarah Brierley, is the question for most brands today. But can they, and should they, be reaching for both at once?
I’ve been thinking about two opposing trends that we’re seeing more and more of among brands.
- Diversification
Some brands are getting better at trying their hand at anything – not afraid to think big (commercial flights to space with Virgin Galactic, anyone?) these brands try radical if risky new ventures that have the potential to transform and grow people’s relationships with them (think Tesco, Google, Amazon).
- Specialisation
Other brands are choosing a single purpose, doing one thing really well. These brands are all about utility and simplicity (think Pinterest, Airbnb, Spotify).
Both these trends are shaping how consumers think about brands.
- We expect the unexpected
Diversification (when done well) opens our minds to possibility. These brands earn our permission to go beyond their original remit – why NOT bank with your supermarket, use a car made by your search engine or watch a TV series created by an online marketplace like Amazon?
Here, the world is the brand’s oyster so brands should THINK BIG.
- We expect simple excellence
We’ve also got used to specialists offering a highly-focused, best-in-class version of their chosen product/service. These brands can be big – Spotify is huge and global but its offering remains clear and single-purpose. Or small – Freedom lager is an award-winning English brewery selling only craft lager, having chosen clear focus over a wider product range. What all these brands have in common is expert single-purpose products/services. Being average just doesn’t cut it.
Specialist brands set the bar high so brands must BE SINGLEMINDED.
Best of both worlds
Perhaps in response to this, many brands with a wide product range are breaking down their offering into smaller, branded, single-purpose chunks, enabling them simultaneously to diversify AND specialise. Facebook is a great example of this: it’s evolved from a single product to six separate apps (Facebook, Camera, Messenger, Poke, Pages and Paper). This unbundling brings clarity of purpose for both the consumer and the brand, enabling each product to be the very best it can.
So perhaps it is possible to have it all – to both diversify and specialise. Whether you offer one product or 20, it seems the key to success lies in clarity, focus and excellence.