What a run we just had! What a summer for the Outdoor Lifestyle Business. If you sold sheds or grills, awnings or pergolas, pavers or outdoor furniture-you had a banner year. Congratulations. Even with supply-chain nightmares and unreliable workforces everyone wanted to buy what you were selling. And, at a premium price never-before imagined.

It’s so tempting to think that ride will never end. Are you sitting down? It has already ended.

I have a friend who is a Funeral Director. You know who else made a lot of money recently? Funeral Directors. In fact, his business set a 125-year record last year. Reason to celebrate (as dark as they may sound)? It sure is – but not for long.

What happened is that Covid accelerated the demand for funeral services. Because of a terrible illness, lots of people died. Both the people who were “scheduled” to die- it was their time – and the “unscheduled” people who would have lived for another year, or two, but who died prematurely. So, there is almost no chance that the new record will be broken over the next five years because the demand for funerals is going down- way down.

Sorry for the morbid analogy, but the same thing just happened in your industry. Anyone and everyone satisfied their outdoor-space fantasies, and boy was it fun! They built courts and patios, pools and outdoor kitchens. They bought high-end well-known brands with years of brand development efforts and lifestyle marketing, and they bought knockoff unbranded junk- as long as their immediate need was fulfilled. They had to have it right then. Some for real reasons like the families who were about to attack each other in their confinement and who needed to get outside and off the couch, to those just pulling the trigger on a long dormant dream of a better backyard.

When that kind of “feeding frenzy” occurs in an industry, established brands enjoy the initial round of demand but then watch as unbranded or off-brand competitors enjoy the surge. When the consumer demands at the level of frenzy that the Covid summer brought, they will buy whatever is available- on-brand, off-brand, and no brand. Witness the success of sites like Overstock and Wayfair.

Starting now, it is the off-brands that will suffer. Their demand-driven consumer no longer has the demand – it has been fulfilled. The established brands should regain their market prominence and meet the needs of the 2022 consumer who can now enjoy the ability to buy the quality and reliability of their long-trusted name-brand products.

This is the year, the season, the very month to be aggressive about your established brand and your brand development efforts. Reassert the multitude of advantages inherent in products that are sold under the protection of a brand.

To put it simpler, supply and demand are becoming equalized again. The attributes that made your brand valuable are more valuable that ever before. The discerning buyer is now the demand, and they want your brand.

If you need a reminder of why you spend money on brand development and brand positioning, let Forbes remind you of the “Importance of Branding in Business” from their “Leadership” section:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/03/24/the-importance-of-branding-in-business/?sh=2ad31fe167f7