For ecommerce brands, expanding across marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and more is a no-brainer for growth. But with that expansion comes a challenge: how do you keep branding consistent across so many different platforms, each with its own rules, limitations, and audiences? This was the central topic of discussion at eCom Insights ‘25, where a panel of experts, including Kris Sanders (Optimizon), Leanne Oddy (Ann Summers), and John Killian (GreyScout), shared their strategies for maintaining brand integrity in a fragmented ecommerce world.
The Balancing Act: Flexibility vs. Consistency
A strong brand is built on consistency, but each marketplace has its own nuances. As Leanne Oddy explained, Ann Summers must maintain its core brand message of “sexual empowerment for every woman” while navigating the restrictive content policies of platforms like Amazon.
“The key is knowing how to flex your brand without breaking it,” said Kris Sanders. “You might have to adapt, but you shouldn’t reinvent yourself for every marketplace.” The solution? Keeping a core brand identity intact while making strategic tweaks to suit different platforms.
The Role of Brand Guidelines
A solid set of brand guidelines is the foundation of marketplace consistency. This means clearly defining your:
- Tone of Voice – How does your brand speak to customers? Is it formal, playful, informative? Ensuring all product descriptions, FAQs, and customer communications align with this voice helps build trust and recognition.
- Visual Identity – Logos, colours, typography, and imagery should remain uniform across marketplaces. Even if product listings need to be adapted, branding should be instantly recognisable.
- Messaging – What are the key messages that define your brand? These should be consistently reflected across product listings, A+ content, and storefronts.
Having clear documentation ensures that internal teams, external agencies, and third-party partners all communicate your brand consistently, no matter the platform.
The Content Challenge: Selling Without a Storefront
Unlike a DTC website where brands have complete control over the experience, marketplaces are built for high-volume selling, not storytelling. “Marketplaces don’t prioritise your brand—they prioritise price and conversion,” noted John Killian. This means brands must work harder to inject storytelling into the customer journey.
Some strategies include:
- Optimising Product Listings – Use the first three to four images to tell a compelling story, since most purchase decisions happen within that window.
- Leveraging Enhanced Content – Tools like Amazon A+ Content and eBay’s storefronts provide opportunities to showcase brand personality.
- Maintaining Consistency in Copy and Design – Even within marketplace constraints, using the same structure and format for descriptions, bullet points, and images helps build familiarity.
Protecting Your Brand From Third-Party Sellers
One major threat to brand consistency is unauthorised third-party sellers. Without careful monitoring, brands risk losing control over how their products are listed and presented. As John Killian pointed out, “Once a brand reaches a certain level of maturity, it’s almost inevitable that it will be misused or misrepresented on ecommerce channels.”
To combat this, brands should:
- Use Brand Registry Programmes – Platforms like Amazon and Walmart offer tools to help brand owners control listings and prevent counterfeits.
- Monitor Third-Party Listings – Regularly check for duplicate or misleading product pages that could damage your brand.
- Invest in Brand Protection Technology – Tools like GreyScout help brands track and manage unauthorised sellers at scale, replacing outdated manual monitoring with automated solutions.
Using Data to Refine Brand Presence
Customer data plays a crucial role in maintaining and refining brand consistency. Ann Summers, for example, uses marketplace analytics to understand customer behaviour across different platforms, identifying where messaging needs to be adjusted.
Kris Sanders shared a case study of a global tech brand that successfully launched on Amazon France by leveraging data from its UK and German stores. By analysing metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates, the brand was able to fine-tune its messaging and visuals for the French market, generating £250,000 in organic sales within three months.
The key takeaway? Data helps brands make informed decisions about what works, what doesn’t, and where adjustments are needed without compromising core identity.
The Future of Branding in Ecommerce
With emerging technologies like AI, AR, and the metaverse reshaping ecommerce, maintaining a consistent brand presence will become even more complex. However, the panel agreed that the fundamentals remain the same: brands must stay true to their identity while adapting to new channels in a way that feels natural and authentic.
As Leanne Oddy put it, “You don’t need to jump on every new trend. The real challenge is knowing which ones will actually add value to your brand.”
Expanding across marketplaces is essential for ecommerce growth, but without a clear brand strategy, it’s easy to lose control. The brands that succeed will be the ones that:
- Define clear brand guidelines.
- Adapt to marketplaces without diluting identity.
- Protect their brand from third-party misrepresentation.
- Use data to make informed branding decisions.
At the end of the day, marketplaces are an opportunity to reach new customers, but brand integrity must come first. If you’re expanding your marketplace presence, ask yourself: does my brand look, sound, and feel the same everywhere I sell? If not, it’s time to put a cohesive branding strategy in place.
