Lifestyle brands don’t just create products – they create the right products for a certain kind of customer. In doing so, they also help fuel the same subcultures from which they draw inspiration. It’s a big idea and part of what makes building a small lifestyle brand such a unique challenge. But for every challenge, there’s a new opportunity.
1. Build a more agile system
“Agile” has turned into a buzzword over the past couple of years, but it’s with good reason. In the context of project management, it originally referred to a set of guiding principles for software development. Since then, those core principles have spilled into every area of business. To be sure, agility is about more than speed. It’s about creating a framework that allows you to be efficient and flexible. For lifestyle brands trying to build their own marketing engines, there are two key points.
The first point is to take a kaizen approach to campaign delivery. Developers apply this concept of incremental improvement by updating their products long after they’ve been launched, like fixing bugs, optimizing performance, and introducing new features. For marketers, that means building small, yet consistent gains and adjusting marketing tactics based on what works. A small business can then use its flexibility to quickly pivot and adjust its approach.
The second point is that cross-functionality within teams is a good thing. Wearing many hats is something that every small business owner understands, but it’s usually treated as a necessity rather than an ideal. But for teams that are trying to be nimbler, it has its advantages. When each team member has the skills to drive marketing operations end to end, a small brand can ensure a higher degree of consistency in voice, feel, and cadence. Campaign development and execution won’t slow down just because a key player is absent.
2. Curate a more personal experience
Lifestyle brands must necessarily be aspirational. They use immersive storytelling to invite their audiences to see a greater vision for themselves. Influential brands like Nike and Urban Outfitters accomplish this with inspiring, image-driven campaigns. Each brand even has its own app to share different types of content and cultivate a more complete experience. On top of that, they also sponsor events, where they build their brands and customer community at the same time.
Social media channels offer an opportunity for small businesses to start thinking in the same way. When executed well, an independent brand can directly act as its customers’ trusted partner. Niche YouTubers, especially those focused on health and fitness, do this to great effect. They approach followers’ questions as opportunities to share thoughts and benefit the community as a whole.
3. Be more of yourself
The biggest single advantage that small lifestyle brands have over large companies is that they get to be more of themselves. Like we’ve mentioned before, the single biggest factor that influences a brand’s positioning is what customers think about the brand. It’s for this reason that so many large companies have trouble coming across as authentic.
Small businesses and startups don’t have this problem. They have the freedom to be more experimental in the ways they build their presence. Lifestyle brands are at a distinct advantage too, because their teams are almost definitely made up of customers and like-minded people. Their hobbies and interests are their customers’ hobbies and interests. The lifestyle becomes ingrained in the brand image, and the brand image begins to reflect the customer.
If you’re ready to develop your lifestyle brand into something bigger, regardless of your team’s size, let’s get in touch. We would love to hear about your goals.
