Why Do Brands in the Same Industry Start Looking Alike?
- Date - 12 Aug 2026 12:16 pm / by Nirvikalp Kushwaha
A few weeks ago, I was working on a brand identity project. Like every branding project, it started with competitor
research. I opened dozens of websites, collected packaging references, saved social media posts and started
understanding how brands in that industry presented themselves.
After spending a couple of hours looking at one brand after another, I noticed something I had never really paid
attention to before.
Even without reading the logos, I could almost tell what business each company was in.
A fintech website looked like fintech. A healthcare brand felt like healthcare. Protein supplements somehow looked
aggressive before I even read the pack. Luxury brands looked expensive without mentioning their price.
These companies had different founders, different products, different stories and completely different ambitions.
Every one of them wanted to build a memorable brand. Every one of them wanted stronger brand recognition. Every
one of them was investing in brand marketing to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
So why did they all end up looking like they belonged to the same family?
The Obvious Explanation
The first answer felt pretty straightforward.
Designers are influenced by other designers.
One successful brand creates a visual style. It gets featured on Behance, shared on Pinterest, passed around in
WhatsApp groups and eventually lands in someone’s moodboard. Clients begin using it as a reference. Designers
borrow parts of it. Another successful project follows, and before anyone realises it, that style slowly becomes what
the entire category starts looking like.
Honestly, I believed that explanation for a long time. Because we’ve all done it.
We’ve searched for references before starting a project. We’ve looked at competitors to understand the market. We’ve
saved work that inspired us. That’s not copying. That’s part of building a brand strategy.
But the more I thought about it, the more I felt that explanation was incomplete.
Maybe Customers Are Part of the Story
Think about the last time you walked into a supermarket to buy shampoo. Chances are, you didn’t stop in front of
every bottle and carefully read the label before deciding which one to pick up. Long before your eyes reached the
brand name, your brain had already started filtering products. The shape of the bottle, the colours, the layout, even
the way information was presented probably felt familiar. You instinctively knew which shelf to look at and which
products belonged there.
Now imagine the same shampoo packaged exactly like engine oil. It would definitely grab your attention, but it would
also make you pause for a second. You’d probably pick it up twice, not because the branding was brilliant, but
because your brain was trying to figure out whether it belonged in your bathroom or your garage.
That’s when my perspective started changing. Maybe brands don’t end up looking similar because designers lack
originality. Maybe customers have spent years learning certain visual patterns, and those patterns help them
recognise products much faster. Before anyone decides which brand to buy, they’re first trying to understand what
they’re looking at. Good visual branding isn’t just about being memorable. Sometimes, it’s about helping people
recognise the category before they recognise the brand.
The Problem with Competitor Research
This also made me rethink the way we usually approach competitor research. Most of us spend hours comparing
colours, typography, logos, layouts and packaging. We build moodboards, identify trends and try to understand the
visual identity of the category. That’s an important part of the process, but I don’t think it’s the most valuable one.
Instead of asking, “Why is every fintech brand using blue?” or “Why do all protein brands use bold typography?” maybe
we should ask a different question. Why have customers become comfortable with these patterns in the first place?
That’s where the conversation shifts from aesthetics to behaviour.
Once you start looking at competitor research through that lens, it stops being a collection of visual references and
starts becoming an exercise in understanding customer expectations. And I think that’s where real brand positioning
begins. You’re no longer choosing colours because competitors are using them or avoiding them simply to look
different. You’re making decisions based on what the customer needs to recognise, trust and remember.
Looking Different Isn't the Goal
For a long time, I thought the purpose of branding was to make a business look different from everyone else. Today, I
think it’s a little more nuanced than that. Good brand development isn’t about rejecting every pattern you see in the
category. It’s about understanding why those patterns exist before deciding whether they deserve to stay.
Some visual conventions genuinely help people recognise the category. Some help build trust because customers
have become familiar with them over time. And then there are others that survive simply because they’ve been
repeated for years without anyone questioning them. That’s where brand strategy becomes interesting. It’s no longer
about choosing a different colour palette or a trendier typeface. It’s about knowing which conventions are useful,
which ones are outdated, and where your brand can create its own identity without making life harder for the
customer.
Final Thoughts
The next time I sit down to do competitor research, I don’t think my first question will be, “How do I make this look
different?” Instead, I’d rather ask, “Which of these patterns exist because customers genuinely need them, and which
ones exist simply because the industry has stopped questioning them?”
I think that’s where better brand building starts. Not by copying competitors. Not by doing the exact opposite either.
But by understanding the reason behind every visual choice before deciding whether it deserves a place in your own
brand.
Written By
Nirvikalp is a Brand designer who spends as much time understanding businesses
as he does designing for them. He believes the best design decisions come from
understanding customers, not chasing trends. His work focuses on branding,
packaging and visual identity that help businesses communicate clearly and grow
with purpose.
