The Brand Umbrella

I live in San Francisco. For years, I've found it amusing to see a handful of all-over-the-map restaurants selling everything from pizza, donuts, espresso and chop suey...all offered on cluttered signs as part of the same menu!

Although I find it funny, even absurd, someone within these businesses must assume a strategy like this: "If I have everything anyone could possibly want under one roof, customers will have no choice but to give me their business.”

Not surprisingly, this is a flawed strategy. I never see many customers around these places. Why would anyone go out of their way to get their pizza and morning coffee from a business that specializes in neither?

These businesses lack a Brand Umbrella: a central, unifying theme that holds their business identity together. Unfortunately, many businesses present themselves to the world in the same unfocused way as these all-over-the-map restaurants.

Could you be confusing your marketplace with an unfocused message? If so, you may be losing business because people do not clearly see the benefits you provide or how you differ from your competitors.