Make your eyewear brand stand out

STOP SHOWING YOUR EYEWEAR!
That’s how you make your eyewear brand actually stand out
because your customer doesn’t buy your eyewear, when they buy your product.
People never by the product, they buy the solution the product gives them. So your eyewear is merely a tool.
But what for?

How we actually choose

The other day I went shoe shopping. …I know, not eyewear, or a story from my years as optician, but let me explain. Because this is a good example.

So I went shoe shopping for neutral shoes and I Already knew which brand I needed for that. Now those who know me, know I’m not the most neutral guy. But I wanted shoes that wouldn’t scream fashion murder under an already non neutral choice of attire. So however I liked the shoes I bought, I bought them because of the feeling they gave me.
The solution for me with those shoes, was a better overal look.
Think about it, when you buy new shoes, you buy shoes that have a certain look. Among other things of course, but looks for most people, is the most important facette. So you buy them for the looks. …the looks that give you a feeling you’re going to belong to a certain class.

Back to Eyewear

Now how do we tie this example back to your eyewear?
Well, first of all by creating the mindset that your frames or sunglasses are tool to build the SOLUTION for your customer. Other than the solution every other eyewear brand has.
Then, you have to realize that your best selling models probably are models that are created by other brands as well.
Which in turn brings us to the question, How the fuck do I stand out with my brand?

Make your eyewear brand stand out

The foundation for the answer to this question lies in your brand conviction, strategy and ideal customer profile. And from there on, you can start the magic!
That magic is called your visual brand. And it’s the part of your brand that actually shows what your customer’s life will look like with your eyewear. By creating a feeling your customer can connect to. Because this all sounds very vague and is absolutely abstract, here’s a concreet example for you.

Bestselling frame

Let’s take one frame, a tortoise Panto. The same classic shape a lot of other brands sell too, because a bestseller is rarely a shape only you have. Yet multiple brands can still own a piece of that pie.

Eyewear brand A

Brand A built its world for their ideal customer, the architect. Every image is raw concrete and warm wooden elements. Hard daylight creating hard shadows on the floor. The architect is sitting behind a clean desk sketching a house by hand.
He takes off the frames and puts it next to his pencil and his sketch.
The person who strips things to the essential sees it and thinks, that’s mine.

Eyewear brand B

Brand B built its world for the musician who romanticises analog. Same frame, lit in tungsten and film grain. Early Sunlight shining through the blinds into a hazey room full of records, a piano and recording equipment.
And the same panto worn by someone who’s been up all night creating a new song.

For that same eyewear model, two people walk into the store already knowing which brand is theirs.
A hundred brands can sell that model. Yet your visual world decides who buys.

Show the frame, and you’re just another Panto.
Build the visual world, and you’re the only one they see.