How to Create a Magnetic Brand That Stands Out in a Crowded Market

Brand strategy is a little like baking a cake: You can bake a cake by the book—but no one craves a ‘just okay’ cake.

Over the years, I have worked with many clients on the mechanics of building a solid brand—defining a brand strategy, creating a brand voice, identifying a target audience and aligning everything with a clear and unique value proposition. That process and workflow is absolutely essential. But if you stop there, your brand will be like a cake that follows the recipe, but lacks the soul.

Let’s go with the cake analogy.

When you don’t know how to bake and you attempt your first cake, you’ll likely end up with a bit of a mess in the kitchen and maybe something barely edible. Definitely not something you’d be comfortable serving to guests.

So the next time you follow a recipe and you’ll produce a technically sound cake: all the ingredients are there, baked for the right time, with a decent frosting on top. A good cake (at least you can eat it).

But a truly memorable cake—the kind of cake that people talk about for weeks and post photos of on social— that cake has something extra. It has finesse, flavor and style. It shows up with confidence and people want to try it.

Your brand is exactly the same.

If Strategy is Branding Step 1, Style is Step 2

Creating a magnetic brand requires more than just hitting the checkboxes and following the mechanical brand strategy process. Yes, that work is important and mandatory. Define your mission. Know your customer. Know the value you bring and how you make your clients feel. But then—once the foundation is set—you need to layer in the qualities that make your brand unmistakably you.

This is where a brand shifts from being a “pretty good” brand to a truly compelling and magnetic brand.

The Brand Strategy Steps to Add to Your Recipe Beyond the Mechanical

1. Tell a Story that Only You Can Tell

Every brand has a backstory. But too many of them read like corporate résumés.

A magnetic brand tells a story with emotion, conflict and personality. These are all very relatable traits. It’s not about making your brand the hero or touting yourself as the best ever. It’s about positioning your audience as the hero—and showing how your brand helps them on their journey.

Ask yourself:

• What’s the origin story behind your business that people don’t know?

• What obstacles did you face that your audience can relate to?

• What beliefs drive you that others are afraid to say out loud?

People buy emotionally and stories are how we emotionally connect. No magnetic brand is built without a powerful story component at its core. That’s why you hear so much about storytelling.

2. Live and Breathe Your Brand Values

This is where many brands get stuck in the safe zone.

They publish their "brand values" as a list of corporate platitudes. I know many of you can relate; we’ve all been in that boardroom or on that conference call. But real brand magnetism comes from embodying your brand values in how you operate, communicate and basically show up every day.

If your brand values include “boldness,” does your content feel bold?

If you value “simplicity,” is your messaging clean and uncluttered?

If “trust” is core to your business, how does your customer experience reflect that?

Values should be visible, tangible and experienced—not just stated.

Customers and clients can sniff out brand disconnect in seconds, so if your brand strategy is not institutionalized in this way, it will fail. In fact, this has been the most common point of brand failure that I have seen over the years.

3. Design a Visual Identity with Soul

Visual identity is more than logos and color palettes. It’s how your brand makes someone feel, at a glance.

A magnetic visual identity matches the tone of your story and the depth of your personality. It communicates subconsciously before a single word is read.

Your font choices, photography style and even whitespace and layout all add up to an emotional experience.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Does my visual identity feel human, alive and consistent?

• Would someone scrolling recognize my brand in a second?

You don’t need to be outrageous or try too hard (please don’t). You just need to be consistent and authentically unmistakably you.

4. Maintain a Brand Voice that’s Consistent and Alive

Consistency builds trust, but lifeless consistency kills interest.

A strong brand voice is consistent in tone, but alive with personality. It adapts slightly across channels without ever breaking character.

Whether it’s sarcastic and rebellious or calm and empathetic, your voice should reflect your values and connect with your audience on a human level.

Don’t be afraid to show humor if it fits your brand. Be bold and take a stance. Write your copy like you speak. These are all the human qualities that work to humanize brands, and relatable brands are what audiences gravitate towards.

A Magnetic Brand isn’t Just Built: it’s Experienced.

A magnetic brand doesn’t just get noticed: it gets remembered. It resonates, attracts and builds a loyal following—not because it followed every rule perfectly, but because it had something extra: authentic passion, creative confidence and style.

So yes, learn the recipe. Build your brand the right way.

But then, layer in your own secret ingredients of flavor and style. Bring your bold. Let your values speak through every story, every post and every touchpoint.

Because in a crowded marketplace, the brands that feel the most genuine and human are the ones that win.

Want help infusing more personality into your brand?

Let’s talk about turning your brand from good to magnetic. Contact me to learn more about how I can help with your brand strategy.