I had a run-in with a brand that clearly hates me.
On my bathroom counter sit two bottles. Same brand. Same chic, minimalist font. Same shape. Same color cap. They are identical twins.
Except one is my gentle, trusted, fragrance-free face product.
The other, apparently, is a bottle of weaponized perfume designed to summon a migraine that could kill a small mammal.
This morning, in a pre-coffee fog, I grabbed the wrong one. I put the migraine-bomb… on my face.
The pain was immediate. We are talking full-blown, ice-pick-behind-the-eyes, hide-in-a-dark-closet-and-pray-for-the-end kind of migraine. My entire morning was torpedoed by a simple packaging decision.
Lying there, I wasn’t just mad. I was doing an autopsy on the brand’s strategy. They failed me. In their quest for a “cohesive aesthetic,” they created two identical landmines. They prioritized looking cool over being clear.
This is the trap so many brands fall into.
Related article: Clarity Is the Language of Great Marketing
You want a “brand family.” You want everything to look consistent, sophisticated, and part of the same lineup. That’s a good impulse. But your brand identity is not just your logo; it’s the entire experience. And if that experience includes your customer accidentally poisoning themselves with a scent they’re allergic to, you have a strategic problem.
Every product in your lineup needs to be a clear member of the brand, yes. But it also needs its own clear identity. It needs to be different enough that your customer can tell the difference in a pre-coffee fog.
If I have to read the fine print with a magnifying glass to tell the difference between “face lotion” and “body lotion,” you haven’t built a brand; you’ve built a trap.
Stop letting your aesthetic get in the way of your customer’s experience. Brand consistency is non-negotiable. But clarity is what keeps your customer from getting a migraine. And trust me, a migraine is not a great brand association.
To being clear, not just clever,
Lara
