5 Steps to Building a Strong Brand Identity
Building a solid brand identity takes time. You can’t just choose a few colors and slap a logo together on the spur of the moment. You must approach your design methodically if you want to establish an identity that truly defines your company and will help you grow.
A staff with strong communication and creative skills, as well as a thorough understanding of who you are, what you do, and how you want to communicate your brand to the world, are all essential.
Don’t be alarmed. You can complete the procedure successfully if you follow the steps in the right order, which is why we’re here. To make things easier, we’ve broken it all down into one straightforward step-by-step explanation.
What is Brand Identity?
Is it your company’s logo? What’s your color scheme? What’s the look of your infographic? It’s everything of that, plus more.
A brand identity, is the totality of how your company looks, feels, and communicates with its customers. (This can include how something sounds, tastes, feels, or even smells.)
Most people, however, use the term “brand identity” to refer to a company’s visual identity. That’s where we’ll be concentrating our efforts in this article.
What Are the Benefits of Having a Brand Identity?
It’s not about producing nice packaging to have a great brand identity, it’s about successfully delivering your brand concept. Design is a strong tool that has the potential to change the way people connect with your business in three ways.
1. Variation:
How can you differentiate yourself in a crowded market? Your brand identity may have a big impact. Creating a consistent, unified appearance is the key to success, whether you want your product to stand out on a shelf or your Facebook advertisements to stand out.
2. Connection:
The better you convey who you are, the simpler it will be for individuals to connect with you and eventually join your community of lifetime followers.
3. Branding:
Your brand is reflected in everything you do. As a result, you must provide a constant, coherent identity if you want to generate a consistent, cohesive brand experience. A solid identity is the key to boosting your brand experience, from your website to social media to sales brochures. Hire a creative brand strategy agency to boost your branding.
Apple, LEGO, and Levi’s are just a few examples of businesses that have elevated brand identification to an art form. Some companies use it as a way to break into the market (think Warby Parker or Casper). Others struggle because they are unsure of who they are or how to properly articulate it. (To be honest, there are far too many brands that fit into this category.)
One thing is certain, regardless of where you lie on that spectrum. Crafting a strong brand identity is essential if you want to be a competitive and successful business.
What Characterizes a Strong Brand Identity?
Just because you have a brand identity on paper doesn’t guarantee it’s excellent or effective. Even if you design every component required, you may still fall short of your long-term objectives.
A great brand identity must appeal to everyone, including your internal staff (for example, brand ambassadors and content writers) as well as the individuals who will engage with it (e.g., customers).
To be genuinely successful, you must create a brand identity that is:
· Unique: It sticks out from the crowd and grabs people’s attention.
· Remarkable: It has a strong visual effect. (Take Apple: Their logo is so recognizable that they only use it on their goods, not their name.)
· Scalable: It may expand and change as the brand does.
· Versatile: It can be employed in a variety of situations (web, print, etc.).
· Cohesive: Each item works in harmony with the others.
· Simple to use: It’s simple and straightforward for designers to utilize.
You will have squandered a lot of time and effort if you create an identity that does not resonate with your target audience or does not accurately reflect your business. (Fortunately, we’ve written this advice to prevent this.)
How to Create a Brand Image
To help you understand the procedure, we’ve broken it down into five simple phases. Because distinct aspects of your identity are built atop each other, these phases are stated in this exact order.
Follow this guide to create a strong brand identity that puts you up for success, whether you’re starting from scratch or rebranding, such as with unique and personalised door mats.
1. Determine how people perceive your brand
Recognize your personal brand. What are the internal and external impressions of your brand? How do your key audiences see you in comparison to your competitors? Are they aware of the situation? Engaged? What are the areas where your brand’s performance is lacking? The only way to accurately analyze where you stand and why, is to do brand research.
2. Create a Brand Strategy
Prioritize rational and emotional brand views that communicate essential consumer advantages as well as brand loyalty, repurchase, and engagement factors.
Brand strategy will reinforce desirable attitudes and behaviors by gaining a measurable knowledge of what produces value for your brand.
3. Design a Structure
Create a brand hierarchy that conveys brand and message priorities effectively across product and service lines, divisional and/or subsidiary connections, locations, segments, and distribution channels.
4. Applying a Constant Brand Experience
Ensure that your brand experience is delivered and controlled consistently across all media.
Ensure that your brand is conveyed consistently, and successfully, across all main customer touch points, including static (such as print advertisements or direct mail), interactive (such as web and online), and human (sales team, call centers, etc.).
5. Keep an eye on your brand and do an audit
To ensure that brands remain relevant and important to key audiences, they must be maintained and managed.
Assign specific custodianship responsibilities and perform regular brand audits and tracking studies, using your own methodology or a proven tool like Brand Mapping. That helps you provide continuing market-driven input on how to assess, enhance, and sustain a strong brand identity.
The one thing you can offer to the table that no one else can is your own, unique viewpoint, like with any art form. You will be lost if you dilute your message to suit everyone. To prevent this from happening, go over these five stages again and again to make sure your company is a true representation of you.