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2 Responses to “What is vertical branding? What is horizontal branding?”

  1. David Wilson Avatar

    Very interesting, thanks for explaining the concepts. I created an elastic belt, different than the typical braided elastic belt, and named it the Betta Belt (because it was supposed to be “better”). So in retrospect, I suppose I was trying a vertical brand strategy, but in actuality it was a horizontal brand strategy, because my belt was not objectively better, just different (since comfort is subjective). Now that there are numerous generic Chinese competitors, should I be trying to position my brand as better (e.g. higher quality) than those, or different (e.g. American company, custom designed parts, etc.)? Additionally, I wasn’t able to trademark BETTA, so ended up transitioning to BESTA, which seems to imply a permanent vertical branding strategy 🙂

    1. Colin Finkle Avatar

      Hi David. I am so thankful you shared your story of the BESTA belt. Don’t get discouraged about the Chinese competitors. I would not even acknowledge the knock off belts in your messaging; as soon as you do, you go down to their level in the minds of the consumers. You want to be comparing your belt with other premium, more standard belts so that you are the “different” option on the top end of the market.

      I am sure you know about them, but just in case, check out Mission Belt. https://missionbelt.com/ They have done a great job creating a branded moat to protect themselves from knock offs.

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