Finding your niche

The concept of differentiation is nothing new, as is the understanding that standing out helps brands to get noticed and remembered. As many brands have matured digitally, we’ve seen something happen where even the most distinct brands have lost their personality as they adopt increasingly homogenous design patterns and practices. They’re vying for customer attention, browse time and - of-course – spend, on multiple fronts. In the process of adopting best practices, aligning with industry norms, following the algorithm and spreading resource thinly across more and more channels,they’re ending up with a vanilla brand experience. That’s before adding in AI content creation, that left unchecked can be samey from brand to brand. Being all things, to all people, takes a lot of time, energy and money, and is difficult to do well. 

There’s been a noticeable growth in new niche players that have a focused offer, executed well – once the preserve of the start-up - and this has started to impact long-term industry leading brands that span many categories. Business of Fashion and McKinsey pointed out at the end of 2024 how much share of the sportwear market challenger brands are taking from the big four - and this trend seems only set to continue across multiple industries. What we can see from the growth of On Running and New Balance is that owning a niche does not mean being a small player – brands that have found their niche are growing significantly and sustainably.  

Faced with nimble effective niche brands, traditional multi-category brands, and groups of brands, are having to work even harder to earn credibility and differentiation. It isn’t enough to simply run a stable of brands anymore with a similar strategy. This can be seen by the ongoing struggles that luxury conglomerates are facing where an industry-think approach of elevating prices to sustain growth has led to new luxury brands taking market share from some of the most storied brands. Where customers can’t understand the value behind a high price point, they’re moving to brands that explain how provenance, quality and design make a product special.  
 
In our experience, brands that are specialists in their field, ones that set themselves apart with a genuinely differentiated product, service, offer and message, will be rewarded with long term customer interest and growth. Whether it is Fortnum & Mason owning hampers and luxury food or Vivobarefoot being the go-to footwear to get closer to nature, brands that identify their niche and commit to it are seeing returns.   

To help brands navigate this we have created these principles to help focus on what makes a difference to customers. 

Who are your core audience, what are the things they like to do and what’s important to them? How do you speak to this audience about your product benefits that align with what they value.   

Think about the missions you’re serving and what is important to customers. Do you need personalisation if your product range is slim, or is it better to focus on new and returning customers and helping those buying gifts. Which channels do you get traction in, and which do you simply need to maintain for presence? 

Make time to review what works and what doesn’t to build a strategy for success. Create a plan to build on engagement with similar activity to generate traction and look-a-like audiences to reach more people. Standing for something and showing up routinely builds trust and credibility. 

What is it that your brand or experience does really well, the thing that your competitors struggle to emulate? Is there a story, provenance point or service differentiator that you can dial up across all touchpoints to reinforce your brand proposition and set yourself apart. 

It's easy to feel the lure of novelty – and often when we speak to brands they feel that they’ve already told a story or tried something before. It’s important to keep front of mind that customers experience your brand in a complex and busy landscape, so it’s right to keep reinforcing the same points that carve out your niche.