Is It Better to Be the Best or the Best Known?
There is a common assumption in marketing that if your product or service is objectively better, customers will naturally choose it.
In reality, buying decisions rarely work like that.
In most categories, success is less about being the absolute best and more about being the brand people recognise, remember, and feel familiar with.
The Coca-Cola Example Explained Properly
There are many studies and taste tests comparing Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
The results vary. Sometimes consumers prefer one, sometimes the other, and often they struggle to tell the difference at all. The key point is not that Pepsi is better or Coca-Cola is worse. It is that the products are broadly comparable.
Yet Coca-Cola consistently outperforms in:
Market share
Brand recognition
Global presence
Cultural association
This gap is not explained by product superiority. It is explained by brand salience and long-term marketing investment.
How People Actually Make Buying Decisions?
Most buyers are not conducting deep comparisons. They are busy, distracted, and operating with limited time and attention.
As a result, they rely on:
Familiarity
Memory
Mental shortcuts
This is supported by decades of behavioural science and modern marketing research, most notably by Byron Sharp, author of How Brands Grow.
His research, based on large-scale empirical data, shows that brands grow primarily by increasing:
Mental availability
Physical availability
Not by persuading people they are better.
What “Being Best Known” Actually Means?
Being best known does not mean being famous for the sake of it.
It means being easy to think of in buying situations.
Marketing science refers to this as mental availability. The likelihood that your brand comes to mind when a customer encounters a relevant need or category.
This is why two important things can be true at the same time:
A brand can be high quality
A better product can still lose
If one brand is remembered and the other is not, the remembered brand usually wins.
Why Competing on “Better” Is a Losing Strategy?
In most markets:
Differences between competitors are marginal
Customers do not have perfect information
Attention is the real constraint
Trying to constantly outdo competitors on features, messaging, or claims often leads to:
Inconsistent branding
Overly complex communication
Short-term tactics that do not compound
Meanwhile, brands that invest in recognition, consistency, and memory structures build long-term advantage.
You Do Not Need Every Channel. You Need Ownership.
You do not need to be present everywhere.
What matters is being consistently present and recognisable in the channels that matter most to your audience.
That could be:
Content
Social
Email
Paid
Partnerships
Inbound or outbound activity
The strategic goal is not maximum reach at all times. It is reliable presence over time.
This is how brands become familiar. Familiarity drives trust. Trust lowers friction when buying moments arise.
Demand Is Built Before Someone Is Ready to Buy
One of the biggest misconceptions in marketing is that demand starts when someone is actively shopping.
In reality, most demand is built long before that point.
When a need finally appears, buyers tend to choose from the small number of brands they already know.
This is why reliance on cold tactics alone is becoming less effective. Buyers increasingly self-educate, observe brands quietly, and form preferences before making contact.
If your brand is not visible during that period, it is unlikely to be considered later.
Being Best Known Still Requires Discipline
This is not an argument for noise or constant posting.
Being best known does not mean:
Chasing trends without strategy
Publishing content without purpose
Sacrificing brand clarity for attention
It means building a connected marketing system where:
Messages are consistent
Channels reinforce each other
Visibility compounds over time
This is how marketing creates momentum rather than short bursts of activity.
Practical Advice for Growing Brands
If you are deciding where to focus, prioritise:
Consistency over intensity
Recognition over reinvention
Memory over messaging complexity
You do not need to be the best in every comparison.
You need to be good, credible, and easy to remember.
Because when buying decisions happen, people rarely search for the best option.
They choose from what they already know.
Where GIGI Marketing Fits?
GIGI Marketing focuses on building marketing systems that work together to create momentum for your brand every day.
That means:
Selecting the right channels
Showing up consistently in them
Building recognition and trust over time
Turning visibility into long-term demand
If your brand is tired of trying to outshout competitors instead of outgrowing them, focusing on becoming best known in your space is a proven and defensible strategy.