How Stereotyping Can Bring Branding Success (or Failure)

Stereotyping gets a bad rap. And most of the time deservedly so. But not all stereotyping is bad. In fact, stereotyping can be used to your (branding) advantage.

Flickr photo courtesy of Lin Pernille ♥ Photography

We’re going to peek into some psychology to see how this works. The most important principle is that the power of stereotypes rests not in what others think about you, but in your own perception of self identity. In fact, your own performance on intellectual and athletic tasks is shaped by your awareness of the stereotype to which you belong. I believe the same is true for business.

For example if you are a used car dealer, there is a certain stereotype about your industry. It shapes what you think about yourself and it shapes how you position your brand.

Why do most used car dealers look and sound like used car dealers? Because that’s the stereotype assigned to (earned by) the industry. Used car dealers are aware of this perception and play to the stereotype!

Note: I did not describe one negative aspect of a used car dealership, yet you visualized an image of one. That’s the power of stereotypes!

Now you see how a negative stereotype works, but the opposite is also true. A self-identity of excellence and exclusiveness can create a performance boost in a high-status business. If you run a Lexus or Mercedes dealership, the public assigns a superior perception to your industry. You then live up to that stereotype of superiority and achieve greater results than if you were the same person running a used car dealership.

Ask yourself: Why have you never seen a used car dealership that’s run like a Lexus dealership? Stereotypes in business are so powerful, that we rarely see examples of stereotype busting. When we do, they are hailed as branding marvels. In reality, they have broken free from the stereotype trap.

Three Branding Strategies To Make Stereotypes Work Positively

1. Branding Mobility – With this strategy you downplay the impact of the industry stereotype on your business. In other words, you don’t identify with the stereotype because you position yourself as not being part of that industry.

For example: rather than positioning yourself as a used car dealership, you position yourself as a luxury car dealership. Yes, you are still selling “pre-owned vehicles,” but you have adopted a different identity.

You do not have to stay in the same family of industries to practice brand mobility. What if your used car dealership assumed the identity of a spa, where guests would be pampered the moment they walk in the door? It would change your stereotype and your brand. It would change who you hire and how you perceive yourself. A stretch you say? Could be the next branding success story.

• Branding Creativity – With this strategy you implement a different sub-group stereotype within your industry that deflects the impact of belonging to a negatively perceived industry.

Rather than being a typical used car dealership, you belong to a special group of used car dealerships that are changing the business. You gain membership into the “Gold Standard Alliance” a national organization of dealerships. This (fictitious) organization only allows membership to the top 5% of dealerships. Members must follow a strict set of guidelines. Rather than being a typical used-car dealer, you are now part of the Gold Standard, changing the way people think about your place in the industry.

• Branding Competition – This strategy uses active resistance to the status-quo. Here you challenge the legitimacy of stereotypes that define your business or industry. You are in competition with the world’s perception, trying to change the world view and define an altered stereotype.

With this strategy, you position yourself as the leader within the industry. Not only are you building your own brand, you are altering the stereotype of the industry. As a leader you are out to “change the way people think about used car dealerships.”

Your business then lives up to this perception and you gain credibility as the market leader.

I’ve focused on used car dealerships here to maintain a consistent example. However, these strategies can be used for any industry. Even if your business is part of a positive stereotype, there is a tendency to become a commodity within that industry. You will still want to break from the pack and establish your own identity.
After all, branding is about being different. And that’s an absence of stereotype.

• What’s your stereotype?
• How are you living up to a negative perception?
• What branding strategy can you implement to make stereotypes work for you?

Related posts on branding:
Nine Compulsions That Keep Your Brand Mired in the Pack
Pancakes and The Art of Brand Leadership
The Psychology of Brand Leadership