Insights
What to do when a competitor copies your brand: 9 tactics
In this article:
- Why the first step is to ask why, before you react
- Nine practical tactics to reinforce your brand
- How to use your heritage and authenticity against copycats
- How Easy Petrol Post Driver grew in the face of copycat product
When a competitor copies your name, look or message, the most effective response is usually to strengthen your own brand. Get legal advice where your rights may have been infringed, then reinforce your heritage, refresh your messaging and identity, and make the authenticity of your product and service impossible to miss. The nine tactics below show you how.
Why copycat competition happens
Like most business owners, I follow many groups on social media, and one post in particular caught my eye. To paraphrase, it went something like this: “A competitor has used my business name and registered it on Companies House. I have already trademarked it but am a sole trader. Is there anything I can do?”
The replies discussed the legal options and recommended trademark lawyers. My own first response was to point the business owner towards a trusted firm we use in Sheffield, and quite rightly so. In the UK, the Company Names Tribunal, part of the Intellectual Property Office, also hears objections from businesses with goodwill or reputation in a name that someone else has registered as a company name opportunistically.
My thoughts soon drifted to projects we’ve delivered for clients in the UK and abroad where similar issues had occurred: cheap imports of copycat products, products that have fallen out of patent, and, most commonly, established businesses with tired or outdated branding competing against new rivals who target their customers directly. Alongside any legal action, the strongest response is to reinforce your brand. Here are nine ways to do it.
Repetition of a consistent message and branding reinforces recognition of your business, enhances your reputation and reaps the rewards.
Nine tactics to reinforce your brand against unfair competition
1. Firstly, ask why
Why are your competitors doing what they’re doing to counter your business? Take time to evaluate the situation and plan a suitable response. Research, plan and plot a path forward. Their actions give you an opportunity to do better business.
2. Reinforce your heritage
Look at what you’ve built up over your years in business and use your heritage to address the issue. If your product is proprietary, prove it, and make sure customers know yours is the original. Build your backstory to strengthen the core facts and benefits of your business, products and service. Brand believability built on established history is an excellent way to counter a competitor’s claims.
3. Review your messaging
Time takes its toll on your message. If you haven’t changed what you say, or how you say it, for a long time, your customers may be bored of your brand and take your business for granted. A proactive new competitor will look shiny, fresh and exciting. There’s no reason you can’t be too. Backed by your heritage, a few simple changes to the way you talk about your business can reinvigorate your brand and its authenticity.
4. Batten down your brand’s identity
If your brand needs tidying up, now’s the time to do it. Look at your communication materials. Are they consistent? Is your logo the same everywhere? Repetition of a consistent message and branding reinforces recognition of your business, enhances your reputation and reaps the rewards.
5. Refresh to retaliate
Audit every communication channel. Check your website, fix any issues and refresh the content. Check you own your web addresses, and buy any available domains that would let a competitor imitate you. Revitalise your social media and find new ways to tell your story. Do your marketing materials need new copy, fresh images or new product photography?
Next, consider rewriting your product descriptions and reviewing your product portfolio. If you have old but well-established products, tie them to your heritage with a “classic” range. Cull outdated materials and freshen up your look.
6. Attack with authenticity
If you say you’re the authentic, original brand, deliver your service authentically too. Tell a transparent story and carry it through your customer journey: a smiling voice on the phone, a can-do attitude to problem-solving and a sincere thank-you note with deliveries. Repeat your core message of authenticity at every customer touchpoint, and give your team a script to follow when they speak with customers.
Repeat your core message of authenticity at every customer touchpoint.
7. Question your qualities
Add value by making simple improvements to the quality of your service, products, delivery and customer care. Reward your most loyal customers with a bonus on their next order, or introduce a tiered reward system for larger orders. Adding value protects your margins and keeps customers coming back. Think of the takeaway that adds a complimentary bottle of cola to larger orders: it costs less than taking money off the bill, and it makes the meal more enjoyable.
At the same time, review your product and service offer. If necessary, retire products that no longer fit the way you present your business, and introduce new ones that do.
8. Ally with your advocates
Advocacy marketing is, to all intents and purposes, word of mouth. The internet and social media give your customers far more ways to tell others how they feel about your business. Invite happy customers to leave reviews. Satisfied customers will usually do this; they just need to be asked. Never offer a reward for a good review, as it’s disingenuous and undermines the authenticity you’re building.
If you receive a bad review, reply politely and professionally, and address the problem. Cover every review channel, from Google, Facebook and LinkedIn to trade websites and industry publications. Above all, talk to your existing customers, strengthen relationships and trust, and let them know they’re valued.
9. Finally, tell the truth and shame the devil
In some sectors, customers expect brands to go head to head, as detergent and personal care brands do, and most famously Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Independent comparison websites and consumer organisations often lead the way, so find every review of your products or service and address any issues they raise.
If a competitor has done something legal that still raises a moral issue that would play strongly in your favour, be very careful, and don’t let your heart rule your head. Take time to consider whether airing your dirty laundry in public suits your type of business. Presenting your own business positively builds far more trust with customers.
Take time to consider whether airing your dirty laundry in public suits your type of business.
How Easy Petrol Post Driver responded to copycat products
Easy Petrol Post Driver makes a specialist post-driving tool for agricultural and rural use. As copycat products entered the market, they risked confusing customers and blurring the difference between Easy’s product and lower-quality alternatives.
We built the new brand around a key market insight: Australian engineering was strongly associated with quality in the sector. That insight shaped both the messaging and the visual identity, reinforcing the product’s heritage and authenticity, much as tactics 2 and 6 describe. We then created a consistent brand system and carried it through to distributors and trade shows, including the graphics for the company’s trade show trailer.
Following the rebrand, Easy saw a significant increase in sales and in UK distribution partners, alongside expansion into Europe and growing interest from the USA.
Look inwards before you look outwards
Competition should always be healthy, and in the best cases it creates opportunities for collaboration and growth. An unfair competitor using underhand tactics is harder to deal with, especially when it’s your business on the line. Try not to take it personally. Reflect before you react. In my experience, raising your brand and the way you do business is the most effective way to counter harmful competition, so look inwards first, strengthen your business, and let your brand do the talking.
Copycat competition FAQs
Can I stop a competitor using my business name?
Start by speaking to a trademark or intellectual property solicitor, who can advise on your rights. In the UK, if someone has registered a company name similar to yours to take advantage of your reputation, the Company Names Tribunal at the Intellectual Property Office can hear an objection, provided you have goodwill or reputation in the name.
Should I cut my prices to compete with a copycat product?
Look at adding value first. A bonus on a customer’s next order or a tiered reward for larger orders protects your margins and reinforces quality.
How do I show customers that my product is the original?
Use your heritage. Tell the story of where your product came from, prove what makes it proprietary, and repeat that message consistently at every customer touchpoint.
Should I criticise a competitor in public?
Be very careful. Direct comparison is expected in some sectors, so consider what your customers expect, and take time to reflect before responding publicly.
Should I offer incentives for positive reviews?
No. Rewarding good reviews is disingenuous and undermines the authenticity you’re trying to build. Simply ask satisfied customers to leave a review.
If you’re ready to strengthen your brand, book a free brand evaluation and we’ll show you how to build a brand that grows your business.
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