The Copycat Trap — and how to avoid it

Why copying is tempting (but dangerous)

Let’s be honest—there’s comfort in copying. It feels safe. If someone else has already taken the risk and seemingly struck gold, surely borrowing their blueprint is the clever thing to do, right? No. Absolutely not.

What works for one brand rarely works for another. Why? Because successful branding is rooted in authenticity, not imitation. Think of brands like Farrow & Ball. On the surface, they sell paint. But delve deeper, and you’ll see they’re really in the business of fulfilling interior design aspirations and lifestyle affirmation. Their customers aren’t just buying a tin of ‘Hague Blue’; they’re buying a story that says, “I have exquisite taste and understand how the use of colour can transform my environment, mood — even my social currency. They might go on to say they’ve ‘curated’ their ‘space’. But, that’d be another sort of copycat trap — the sort that makes them sound like an idiot.

If another paint company simply slaps on a premium price and starts naming colours after obscure mammal parts, they’ll be called out faster than you can say ‘Aadvark’s Elbow.’

The danger of assumptions

They see the glossy surface but miss the structural foundations underneath.

Consider the charm of Anthropologie stores—brimming with bohemian displays, eclectic furnishings, and dreamy scents wafting through the air. Plenty of retailers have tried to mimic that whimsical, artisanal vibe by scattering a few rustic props and playing folky background music. But without Anthropologie's meticulous taste and storytelling, they often end up looking like a chaotic jumble sale with a playlist.

As the old saying goes, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” but it’s also the quickest route to irrelevance.

Brand first, creative second

Before any creative work begins—could be a new logo, a marketing campaign, or even a product launch—businesses need to do the hard work of defining their brand. And no, a brand isn’t just a logo or a catchy slogan. Read more about that here.

We all know this one: a brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. But it’s true. It’s the gut feeling your customers have about your business.

Cue a deep dive brand workshop: It’s essential because it’s a chance to strip everything back and ask the big questions:

• What do we actually sell?

• What problems do we solve for our customers?

• What are our values?

• What sets us apart from everyone else?

Without clear answers to these and a few other, selective questions, you’re just throwing darts in the dark.

The power of distinction

Let’s look at an example from the world of food and drink: Innocent Drinks. They didn’t become a household name by copying Tropicana. They carved out their own space by being playful, transparent, and delightfully human. Their brand voice is so distinctive that you can spot one of their ads a mile away.

Now imagine if they’d just mimicked the serious, health-focused tone of their competitors. They would have stumbled into Nafftown faster than a kale smoothie.

As branding guru Marty Neumeier famously said: “When everyone zigs, zag.”

The cost of the Copycat Trap

When you lack a clear identity, you become interchangeable with your competitors. That means customers have no reason to choose you over anyone else—except maybe price. And competing on price is a race to the bottom that nobody wins.

On the flip side, brands that invest in understanding who they are and what they stand for can charge a premium, command loyalty, and weather market fluctuations.

How to avoid the trap

So how do you break free from the Copycat Trap? Here are a few pointers:

• Know Thyself: Invest time and energy into understanding your brand. Run a workshop, talk to your customers, and get crystal clear on what makes you unique.

• Look Beyond Your Industry: Don’t just benchmark against your direct competitors. Look at brands in completely different sectors for inspiration.

• Be Brave: Originality requires courage. It’s easier to follow the herd, but the real rewards come when you take a bold, authentic stand.

• Trust the Process: Creative work should always be rooted in strategy. Resist the urge to jump straight to execution without doing the foundational work first.

Final thought: Authenticity over imitation

In a world where consumers are bombarded with thousands of messages daily, authenticity cuts through the noise. It’s what makes brands memorable, trustworthy, and loved.

So, the next time you’re tempted to copy what the competition is doing, remember this: success isn’t about being better than everyone else; it’s about knowing and understanding why you’re different and what that means to your customers.

As Oscar Wilde put it, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

He would’ve loved our Applied Brand AdvantageTM