Brand building – an exercise in asymmetry

Do you have any idea how many brands are vying for your attention every day? It’s disgusting. Try this, check out that, Like this, Follow that, 20% more, satisfaction guaranteed! So to cope with this media swarm, people naturally employ some quick mental triage in order to decide what to pay attention to and what to ignore. When you study this triage (and more importantly, what survives it) you’ll notice one simple theme again and again: Asymmetry.

Yes, the basic test we perform on the billboards and product claims and new websites we see everyday is a test of asymmetry. We’re drawn to things that don’t belong. This is a hardwired ability we’ve honed over thousands of years. What moves in a still pasture? What makes noise on a quiet street?

Symmetry is everywhere. Most organisms have

Properly harnessed, asymmetry is the basis of brand building. In a crowded market, how do you grab people’s attention? In those 1-3 seconds when someone first lays eyes on you, there isn’t time to communicate your business objectives or product benefits. No, there’s time to grab their attention and make them curious, make them want to learn all that other stuff. If you stammer out of the gate – game over.

Most industries have a herd mentality. Most lawyers name their businesses after themselves. Most pizza delivery companies complete on delivery time and price. Most home security companies compete with fear. ‘When someone threatens your family’s safety, are you prepared?’ So as a new entrant in any field, you need to understand the rules of engagement. What does everyone compete on? Is it speed? Trust? Quality? From there, you need to do something that sounds simple but in practice can actually be quite difficult: don’t compete.

Don’t try to be the fastest, safest, smartest if that’s what everyone else is trying to do. As someone building a brand in a competitive market, you have no shot. The competition most likely has advantages in experience, recognition, market share. Don’t compete on their terms. Compete on something else – use asymmetry. Give people every possible indication that you’re different – different in a way that makes them curious; different in a way that shows you understand them. Then watch your competition scramble.

Asymmetry in brand building:

Logos tend to gravitate towards blue and red. What colors are your competitors using?

Dyson quickly rose to dominance in vacuums. In a market predicated on price, they changed the battle to focus on suction.

Virgin is asymmetric on almost every level. From their name to their interiors, you won’t confuse them with any other airline.

Check out the A Hundred Monkeys approach to brand building.