What do Uber, Zoom, and Apple Pay have in common?
All are digital-first, sitting at the magical intersection of hardware, software and connectivity. Their strategy has been to remove interactions; simplifying experiences and making things easier as a result. By their very nature, they operate in the background of our lives.
In this way, these brands can be thought of as ‘invisible’.
Covid-19 has accelerated our willingness to embrace such brands in more and more aspects of our lives. Look no further than the explosion of contactless payments, online communications platforms and grocery delivery apps.
But with more competition than ever in the digital space, the invisible brands that stand the test of time will be those that add elements of visibility to help them stand out and prevent them from falling into the shadows.
Interactions, particularly those that occur at physical touchpoints, have long been used by brands to connect meaningfully with us.
Consider a traditional store; entering a space and being immersed in the sights, smells and people. Through this experience, we’re left with a certain idea (or better yet, an emotion) that we associate with the brand.
In contrast, invisible brands lack these classical opportunities to differentiate themselves from competitors in our minds. They have sought to reduce the number of interactions in an experience. Interactions – the thinking goes – are merely bumps or glitches that people would rather avoid.
Take Uber, for example, which set out to eradicate all friction in the taxi experience: waiting on the street to hail a cab, interacting with the driver and paying the fee.
As a result, many people’s notion of Uber consists simply of a seamless journey from A to B. While this might have been differentiating in itself when the brand first popped up, the rise of like-for-like alternatives has left the market for mobility solutions feeling much like a sea of sameness.
A sector that’s experienced this acutely is telecom, which has essentially been commoditised by its own success in removing friction from our digital lives. For the most part, people are now indifferent to whether they’re connected by Orange, BT, Vodafone or the latest discount provider.
Crucially, people become attached to the new standard set by invisible brands, rather than the specific brand that enables it. We waste no time in moving on to an alternative when our go-to option fails to meet our expectations.
We flick through multiple taxi apps to see which one can find us a driver first. We curse our frozen video call, sharing new links to alternative platforms. We begrudge contactless when it doesn’t ‘wake up’ instantly, resorting to a different card.
Simply put: the core challenge for invisible brands is to give us a good reason to hang around.
So, how have brands historically approached this challenge?
One of the first companies to find a solution to this was Apple, who pioneered the idea that technology and digital experience could feel luxury.
They achieved this by instilling wonder in the experience around their products & services. From entering palace-like stores to opening beautifully packaged devices, Apple made it deeply desirable to engage with their brand.
In their digital experience, Apple have also mastered the ability to ‘show up’ in special, appropriate moments; comforting haptics, seamless touch navigation and devices that connect intuitively to nudge you in the right direction.
Sonos came at this challenge from a slightly different angle, starting first as an invisible brand connecting your device to your speakers, and then moving into physical products, selling speakers too.
This gave Sonos a visible presence in the home, with the company recognising that it’s much easier to build a relationship with customers if there’s part of your offer that people can literally touch and see.
What ways can today’s invisible brands stay relevant, retain their customer bases, and grow?
1. Blend the invisible with the visible.
There’s value in showing up and being ‘visible’ in appropriate ways and moments, through either physical products, in-person experiences or watchable content. Take inspiration from the way that some telcos are acquiring media companies in order to be associated more closely with the online entertainment experience, and others are sponsoring in-person gaming experiences in order to bring their brands to life in physical spaces.
2. Be visible where there’s value.
These brands should take a step back and think about how that value they offer customers could be translated into other sectors with more additive value. For example, if Zoom is about online connections, could it set up a dating app? Or more ambitious yet, a rival to Airbnb? Loyalty could then be nurtured by creating an ecosystem of connected and complementary experiences that work smartly together, taking a page from Apple’s book.
3. Invisible can still be delightful.
Or perhaps there’s something missing in the eternal quest for seamlessness. In the race to make things easier and smoother, are we losing something? The invisible brands of the future might not be the best at simply making our lives more seamless, but those who marry this with an element of surprise, spontaneity and excitement; unexpected moments that break up the monotony of the day-to-day.
Of course, this isn’t one size fits all. What’s right for one invisible brand could be inappropriate or inauthentic for another. But the key to being a successfully invisible brand is, somewhat ironically, to ensure they are visible in the right way – to expand their value, move into other categories or reintroduce some surprise in an evermore seamless world.
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