Does it have to be a brand to do Amazon?

Many Amazon merchants often ask, "Is it okay not to do branding on Amazon

The answer is one

Extremely high risk

Without brand protection, your products are easily "sold alongside". In other words, even if you find a popular product, as long as others have the same source of goods, they can quickly replicate your model and even snatch away your hard-earned orders and market share by lowering prices.

Merchants who have not established a brand, registered a trademark, or participated in the Amazon Brand Registry are like unlocked doors - anyone who lists the same product can "put it up for sale" at the bottom of your page, and even win the gold shopping cart Buy Box instead.

To become a successful Amazon merchant, one must shift from a mindset of "selling products" to a mindset of "branding"; To break free from price wars, enhance premium capabilities, and establish a stable market position.

Brand ≠ Just logo

Many people's first reaction when they hear about "building a brand" is: "It should be very complicated and cost a lot of money, right?

In fact, if we only look at the most basic technical level, the birth of a brand is not difficult - giving a name to a product, even if you have a brand.

For example, if you sell women's bags on Amazon and label them with the name "XX Women's Bag", they can also be called a brand.

However, such a brand only stays at the stage of "naming", it has no market value and lacks protection mechanisms, making it extremely easy to be imitated or even directly sold. A truly meaningful brand must establish barriers in its positioning, sense of value, and consumer mindset, rather than relying solely on a name.

Brand is market positioning

Many businesses often simply understand "brand" as a trademark or logo

But what truly determines value is the connection between the brand and consumers, and whether it can make customers identify with the meaning behind the product. Why can some brands set high prices and win loyal customers, while others can only attract attention with low prices, even though they sell bags? The key is whether it can create business travel alienation.

Building a brand doesn't necessarily require investing heavily in advertising from the beginning. It can be made unique through naming, visual design, packaging experience, and brand storytelling.

For example, an Amazon seller of women's bags noticed that the designs of tote bags on the market were mostly similar. Therefore, based on the brand's core concept of "switching styles every day", she launched a series of products with "replaceable shoulder straps", making consumers feel that one bag can have multiple styles and value for multiple scenarios.

Amazon Success Case Insights: The Brand Road of TheFitGuy

The FitGuy brand's shin guards fill the gap in the fitness (weightlifting accessories) segment market. In 2018, Yaniv Kinstlich was searching for calf protection during weightlifting training and found that the best-selling shin guard on Amazon needed to be worn like a sock (which had to be taken off the shoes), making it very inconvenient to use. He realized that the market lacked a shin guard that could be used without taking off his shoes.

So, Yaniv and his long-time friend Guy designed and manufactured the ideal shin guard that could be directly wrapped around the calf. They sold this sturdy, durable, and easy to wear shin guard on the Amazon platform, successfully filling the gap in the weightlifting accessories market, and thus the FitGuy brand was born.

The brand path of TheFitGuy

TheFitGuy places great emphasis on creating a distinct brand image.

From the brand name and micro logo design, TheFitGuy intuitively conveys the image of a fitness enthusiast, and the logo also reflects strength and fashion sense. This unified brand visual is not only printed on products, but also runs through store pages and promotional materials, giving consumers a deep brand impression. In the fiercely competitive fitness accessories market, TheFitGuy stands out with a unique and professional brand image, winning the attention and recognition of its target audience.

The FitGuy has chosen a differentiation route that focuses on pain points in segmented markets. As stated in the official case, TheFitGuy used relevant data to understand the search preferences of its target users, successfully identified its positioning, and filled the market gap. As expected, it achieved a steady increase in sales and established a reliable brand reputation in the fitness accessory category.

TheFitGuy showcased to us a microcosm of the rise of emerging brands on Amazon: precise brand positioning and visuals, focused on segmented product innovation, and forged the path to brand success.

Therefore, in just a few years, TheFitGuy not only filled the market gap and achieved record high sales, but also established a reliable brand reputation among the fitness community.

Founder Yaniv's statement perfectly embodies their philosophy: "As a brand, it means establishing a satisfactory relationship with buyers from the moment they see product advertisements until they use the product. This precisely embodies the essence of brand operation: every link is synchronized with users, creating value together.

Brand is not just icing on the cake, but a way to survive.

Many businesses once believed that "brand" was just the icing on the cake after becoming bigger and stronger, as if only big sellers could afford it. However, the changing landscape of the e-commerce industry has proven that this mindset needs to be completely reversed.

In today's Amazon ecosystem, changes in the platform environment make it difficult to survive without branding. Amazon has demonstrated through its actions that only by operating with integrity and building its own brand can it achieve stability and long-term success.

At the same time, more and more internationally renowned brands are entering Amazon stores in large numbers, and consumers' demands for products and stores are skyrocketing. Nowadays, when buyers shop on Amazon, they not only focus on the cost-effectiveness of the product itself, but also become more picky about brand recognition and reputation. When consumers are faced with a dazzling array of similar products, they tend to lean towards brands they have heard of or stores that present professional images. This means that if small and medium-sized businesses do not actively build their brand image, they are likely to be submerged in fierce competition.

The investment in the brand today determines whether it will still stand strong in the market tomorrow.

Businesses without brand support often fall into a vicious cycle of price wars, with meager profits and the possibility of being replaced by lower priced competitors at any time. But once a brand is established, the situation is completely different. The loyal users and word-of-mouth effect brought by the brand will gradually form a positive feedback loop: old customers continue to repurchase and spontaneously spread, while new customers are more willing to try due to the influence of word-of-mouth.

For merchants who are deeply involved in cross-border e-commerce, this transformation is both a challenge and an opportunity. Once you create your own brand, it's like having a long-lasting moat and assets that can continuously generate value.

Entering the era of branding

When we look back at Amazon's trends over the years, from the platform to the merchants, we are all conveying the same message: branding is the core competitiveness of future cross-border e-commerce.

From the transformation of Amazon's official strategy, the value connotation of brand management, to the experience and inspiration of successful cases, it unfolds layer by layer; Just to emphasize one conclusion, the path of a brand is the only way for every business to achieve long-term success.

If you have realized the significance of branding for survival and development, you may take a firm step: embrace branding, cultivate meticulously, and adhere to long-term principles. I believe that in the near future, your brand will also have a place in the global e-commerce landscape, gaining long-term commercial value and a sense of achievement.\