Tariffs, TikTok, and Brand Chaos: Why Experience Is Your Only Moat Now

When price, place, and production are no longer differentiators—what’s left?

Last week, Chinese factories went viral on TikTok claiming to sell “factory-direct” versions of popular Western brands like Lululemon, Nike, and The North Face—for a tenth of the price.

Legit or not, those videos racked up millions of views and ignited something deeper:
🔥 A crack in the illusion of brand exclusivity
🔥 A reminder that today’s brands don’t own all the cards anymore
🔥 A wake-up call for leaders who think logos can protect their margins

What’s happening isn’t just a “China thing.” It’s a brand system failure.

With the US imposing tariffs up to 145% on Chinese imports, brands are under pressure:

• Prices are spiking

• Margins are compressing

• Consumers are switching brands faster than ever

• And middle managers are being asked to “do more with less” while still “thinking big”

In this environment, brand loyalty erodes quickly.
🧠 According to the Sprout Social Index, 58% of consumer choice is driven by experience
Not price.
Not product specs.
Experience.

Because when customers can get “the same” product for 90% less, the only moat that’s left is trust—and trust is built in how your brand is experienced, not advertised.

Innovation is no longer about what’s next. It’s about defending what’s valuable—now.

Let’s be blunt:

• A campaign can’t fix a broken supply chain.

• A loyalty program won’t cover for customer confusion.

• An award-winning rebrand won’t save a product portfolio built for 2019.

The brands that survive this wave won’t be the loudest.
They’ll be the most coordinated across product, CX, ops, and leadership.

That’s where innovation comes in—not as a big idea, but as a business defense strategy.

Here’s how managers can lead real, revenue-first innovation right now:

🔹 Audit your brand experience
Does your sales, onboarding, and support reflect your brand promise—or erode it?

🔹 Re-prioritize your product portfolio
Kill off value-dead SKUs. Double down on what builds preference, not just presence.

🔹 Run scenario-based planning
Tariffs are just one disruptor. What else are you not prepared for?

🔹 Invest in CX as your differentiator
A smooth experience across every touchpoint is your competitive edge now.

💬 This is why I created the innovation leadership certification. Managers, leaders and founders learnt how to do business based on late 19th and early 20th century business practices. Everything they (we) studied did not prepared us to change, evolve. We need to revamp:
- Executional readiness for uncertainty.
- Systems to protect brand value under pressure.
- Leaders who don’t wait to react—they build the next move.

And it all starts with understanding that:

In a world where price, channels, and even factories are shared… your experience is the only thing you can own.