You’ve likely come across the term “brand identity ” at some point in your branding journey. Perhaps you were unclear on what it meant, or you just moved on.
We strongly oppose the second option due to the human tendency to be impulsive. Strong brand identities are essential for any business’s success.
Strong brand identity will transform your company from an idea to a living entity. It should be the focus of all your branding efforts.
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What is brand identity?
Your brand identity is the image your company presents to the world. This is your company’s only consistent message that is communicated repeatedly through consistent language and visual elements.
Your brand identity, or in other words, is how your brand expresses its core values and mission.
Consider your identity. How can you express yourself?
Maybe you are a black-skinned guy who dresses head to toe every day. Perhaps you prefer to wear clean lines and button-down shirts. Or maybe you are a pattern guy. A cartilage earring is added to your ears. You can have subtle highlights or tattoos placed well.
This common thread is that self-expression often comes from cultivated visual representations, which are ones that distinguish you from others. This is also true when it comes to establishing a brand identity. You portray a company image that differentiates you from your competitors.
Although looks are not everything, the way people talk also makes them unique. You can easily tell who the character in “Friends” is talking about. Or which famous supermodel talks about “smize.” These aspects are all part of your identity, and so should your brand.
What is the purpose focus on brand identity?
Your brand identity is where you and your customers meet. It is what makes customers instantly recognize you and makes them loyal.
Your branding efforts should be geared towards creating a unique image for your customers when they think about your brand. The perception of your company is important. You can engineer the image you want to project on your customers’ minds through your brand identity.
A brand identity is a guideline for your company. It guides the content you produce, how you design, and even what type of events you host.
Understand your Brand Identity
You must first understand who you are and what your audience is before you can create an identity that connects with them. It seems logical, doesn’t it?
Answer the following questions to help you get there:
- Which are your ideal customers? Which demographics are they?
- What language does your target audience use to communicate?
- What are the pain points of your customers?
- What do your customers think of your brand today?
- What other brands are your customers fond of?
- What are your core values? What is your mission statement?
- How do you define your brand personality?
- How do you add value to your potential customers?
These questions can be answered by introspection. Create surveys. Convene focus groups. Analyze your competitors. You can use any resource to learn about your customers, their motivations, and the way they would like to be spoken to.
then evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. If you are having trouble answering the questions above (i.e. If you have trouble putting together your answers to the above questions (i.e., the internal portion of the audit), create a mind map. This will help you organize all your thoughts and ideas.
Place the main idea for your business at the top of the page. Next, draw “roads” to other ideas. These could be aspects of your brand’s voice or a goal that you would like your business to achieve. These ideas will be written down as they arise. By the end of the brainstorming session, you will have a better understanding of your brand and how you can bring them to life.
How to Build Your Brand Personality
Your brand personality, another important branding buzzword is also an important element of your brand identity.
Your brand identity is the perception that others have about your brand. Your brand personality helps you cultivate this perception.
Imagine a person who represents your brand. This is the easiest way to imagine your brand’s personality. How does he/she appear? Sound like? What is the communication style of the spokesperson? Is the spokesperson smart and funny? Are they serious and professional? These questions may have been touched upon in Step 1. Now is the time for you to really get into it (pun intended).
Write down the brand’s personality image once you have it figured out. Your brand personality must be consistent across all marketing communications. This will ensure that your brand is effective and develop a brand identity.
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Build Your Brand Strategy
This is your brand’s “how” section. What are you going to do to share your brand story with the world?
How to create a brand identity
Consistency is key to creating a brand identity your customers will love. It’s now time to create a plan for how you will execute the ideas that you brainstormed in the previous two steps. Specifically, determine:
Brand Guidelines
These rules will be used by your company when representing yourself across channels. They are meant to build an emotional connection with your audience and eventually, to help you gain brand recognition. These guidelines include a style guide and company mission.
Branding Efforts
Which channels are most effective for your branding efforts Is your audience more likely to use one social media platform? Which events should you position your brand as thought leaders?
Content strategy
This is the content strategy for your company. It also includes the types of content you will create and the acceptable brand voice.
Your overall brand strategy should be focused on creating an experience that is unique for people who use your products. Once you’re done…
Build creative Brand
It’s time to put it all together!
The brand strategy that you have outlined above will guide the creation of the visual elements for your brand. Remember that the elements below must all work together seamlessly when you design – it’s as though they were created together.
The following are the most important things to focus on strong brand identity:
Logo
Your logo may not be everything but it will serve as the only visual representation of your brand identity and remind customers who you are. A logo is the first thing customers see when they enter the company doors.
Tagline
This catchphrase is used to describe your company and is attached to your logo.
Typography
These fonts tell your brand’s story. It’s likely that you will need to choose multiple fonts that complement one another. Try to pair fonts that are distinctive enough that your audience can distinguish between them, yet still convey the same mood.
Color Palette
Your brand’s colors will have psychological effects that are different from your audience. You want this to work for you. Consider the emotions that you experience when you look at different colors. You can use color combinations to invoke the emotions you desire for your brand.
Shapes
Your brand identity officially consists of a personality, a voice, and a face – all ready to tell the story of your brand.
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Measuring Brand Identity Effectiveness
You are now ready to unleash your brand identity into the wild.
You may discover that your brand strategy is not working out or that the voice you have chosen is the best for your message.
Analyzing is a key component of any strategy. It’s crucial to assess the success of your branding efforts as soon as your brand is young so that you can adjust your strategy. You can always look into the following:
- Are you converting new customers? Are you retaining loyal customers?
- What kind of conversations surrounds your brand?
- Is your company following the brand style guide?
- What posts did you have that had a lot of reaches? Did you have a campaign that resonated with your followers specifically?
- Answer these questions and make any changes you need. But, try to be as consistent as possible and stay on message. You wouldn’t alter your whole identity in one day, would you?
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