Do you know that Brand Identity is one of the most important elements of a business?
Developing a brand identity is more than just creating a brand logo.
Though a logo can be a symbol of business, it is not the entirety of a brand.
In fact, creating a logo is just one mall step that you take in developing a strong brand identity.
With millions of businesses trying to make a name for themselves, having a strong brand identity is becoming crucial for business.
This helps them to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
If you are developing your first brand identity for a client or doing it for your own business, it is important to understand what a brand is, and what it takes to create one.
Keep on reading as we explore strong examples of brand identity, how to create one for your own business, and more.
Read On:
Brand Identity
To understand brand identity, it is important to understand that at its core, brand identity is the expression of everything your brand stands for.
This includes your values or mission statement, your products or services, your brand voice, including personality, tone, and style, as well as your relationship with your customers.
Moreover, your brand identity takes four fundamental elements and distills them into one cohesive image.
This image tends the public face of your business.
It also includes a business name, logo, and other design elements like font and color palate.
When you make sure of it effectively, your brand identity can help you differentiate your business from your competitors and build a relationship with your future customers.
Learn more about Brand Awareness: Importance, Strategies, and More here.
Importance of Brand Identity
As an embodiment of almost everything your business is and does, a brand identity can help inspire customers and increase a sense of loyalty for your brand.
Therefore, it is important for the future of your business.
So, if your brand is more than just its logo, how do you tend to replicate what brands like Coca-Cola have done and instill other unique elements into your business identity?
The following are six components of a well-developed brand identity and what it is important for you to develop them:
The “Face” of your Business: For all purposes, the logo of your brand is the ‘face’ of your business.
However, that face should do more than just look cool or interesting.
A logo is a contribution to brand identity and is associative as well.
Moreover, it tells the public that image means the name of your company.
Credibility and Trust: Having a brand identity is not just about your product, it makes your brand more authoritative in the marketplace.
Moreover, a brand that establishes a face and tends to maintain that face consistently over time, tends to develop credibility among its competitors and trust among its customers.
Advertising Impressions: A brand identity is a template for everything you will include in an advertisement for your business.
Whether that ad is in print, online, or a preroll commercial on YouTube.
A brand with a face and industry credibility tends to be well-prepared to promote itself and make impression on potential customers.
Your Company’s Mission: When you create an identity for your brand, you are giving it something to stand for.
This, in turn, will give your company a purpose.
You would have heard about having mission statements, right?
You cannot have one without first having your brand and identity.
Generating new Customers and Delighting Existing Ones: When your brand has an identity with a face, trust, and a mission, it will attract people with what your brand has to offer.
However, once they become your customers, that same brand identity will give them a sense of belonging.
It is important to note that a good product tends to generate customers, however, a good brand generates advocates.
Therefore, if you want your business to be well-known and a beloved brand name, it is going to take some work.
Brand Identity vs. Brand Image
Brand identity is a set of visible elements like logo, design, and color.
These elements help your brand to stand out among its competitors in the mind of the consumers.
Moreover, the business owner tends to select its name, develop a logo, craft messages, and a certain way of communication.
They also create shapes visuals and uses color to shape a certain image in the mind of the customers.
On the other hand, a brand image is a perception a consumer has about a particular brand after interacting.
To understand it in simple terms, it is a result of the efforts of the team of company to create a brand identity.
When successful, it helps to shape a positive image.
Elements of Brand Identity
Brand identity is not just about a logo, it includes more components that you will need to consider.
These are:
Logo: You can represent a logo in the form of images, texts, and shapes that show the name and purpose of the brand.
Though a logo is the key element of the identity of a company, consumers often pay attention to it.
You can also use a text log, which is a distinct text-only typography of the name of the brand.
Moreover, a lot of companies now make use of ext-only as they are easier to remember.
Font: Once you decide on a logo, you will need to think of corporating font you will use on your website and in different marketing campaigns.
You will need to find attention-grabbing and easy-to-understand fonts.
Style Consistency: When mentioning styles, it means visual elements of the brand.
You will need to be consistent when it comes to images and other visual elements on your website and promotional campaigns.
Shape and Form: Another important component is the shape or form that will represent your company, and will make people recognize your product.
Make sure that you have memorable packaging and an interesting form.
Let’s discuss some popular examples of Brand Identity:
Coca-Cola
When someone says the name Coca-Cola you will think about its well-known logo.
However, you may also think of the polar bear, the color red, its ‘Share a Coke” campaign or the classic ribbon-like imagery featured on its cans.
Here are the two things that make Coca-Cola’s brand identity:
First, the brand identity of Coca-Cola begins with a red logo in script text.
The red color shows confidence in the person who drinks a Coke, while the script typeface is about enjoyment.
For example, coffee is a drink you tend to have before going to work in the morning.
While Coca-Cola is the drink you enjoy in the afternoon. This is the brand’s ‘face’.
Second, Coca-Cola prints its logo on a uniquely shaped bottle.
This intends to show the consumers that they are not getting imitation, this is the real thing.
The brand develops its credibility and trusts in this way.
Hustle & Hope Greeting Cards
Hustle & Hope is a brand that tends to position its products as more than just greeting cards.
Their stationery and cards tend to tackle more difficult topics like job hunting and personal development.
Moreover, pairing simple inspirational messaging with a code on the back of the card leads to digital content and tips, the cards are meant to ‘level up; the recipient in some way.
The Founder of this company, Ashley Sutton always wanted to start a stationery company.
However, after a career working in some of the top Fortune 500 companies, she became passionate about empowering people to do their best professional selves.
That is when she had an epiphany that later became the basis of what makes her company unique.
“Why not sell greeting cards and help people”.
Here is how they executed their brand’s identity:
All the paper products make use of modern, colorful designs that pop off the page and slogans that go beyond generic well-wishing.
Moreover, the experience of scanning the code is a novelty that makes an impression, both with the product itself as well as its mission to drive an idea home.
Levi’s
When you see the logo of this brand refers to a ‘batwing’ and evokes the familiar design of its most famous product: jeans.
Moreover, it mirrors the shape of the stitching on the back pocket you can find on their products.
This tends to create an immediate connection calling the mind of the viewer a product that they are likely familiar with.
The minimalist design also makes it easy to identify and replicate, whether it is printed or merchandise.
Or in lights over a stadium during the Superbowl, for instance.
Lastly, the red color calls out to the famous and frequently imitated red tags are that stitched into Levi’s jeans.
Why it works?
Because the primary product of the company is jeans that are already so entrenched in the lifestyles of the customers, the easily recognizable branding helps to position Levi’s as an iconic, authentic source.
However, you do not need a long and storied history for straightforward, product-oriented branding to work.
The following steps will help you build a brand identity.
These are simple steps you can take today:
Creating a Brand Identity
To create a brand identity, follow the steps below:
- research your audience, value proposition, and competition
- design a logo and a template for it
- integrate language you can use to connect, advertise, and embody on social media
- know what to avoid
- monitor your brand to maintain its identity
It is important to note that building a brand is not something you should do in the spur of the moment.
There are a lot of moving parts that go beyond creating a logo and choosing some key colors.
Moreover, creating a brand identity will require the following:
1# Research your Audience, Value Proposition, and Competition
Just like any other aspect of starting a business, the first step in creating an identity is to complete market research.
You need to clarify and understand the following five things:
Audience: Different people want different things.
You cannot target a product to a pre-teen the same way you will target a product to a university student.
Learning what your audience what from the business in your industry is important to creating a brand people will love.
Value Proposition and Competition: What makes your business unique?
What you are offering your consumers, others can’t?
Understanding the difference between you and your competition is important to developing a successful brand.
Moreover, keeping an eye on your competitors will also inform and educate you on what branding techniques will work, as well as those that won’t.
Mission: When you understand what your business offers, make sure to have a clear and direct mission statement.
In simple words, know the purpose of your business.
You cannot very well create a personality for a business unless you know what that business is about.
Personality: Even when you are not branding an individual, that does not mean you cannot be personable when developing a brand image.
You can use your type, colors, and imagery to develop who your brand is.
Then you can enhance that visual representation with your tone of voice.
Though you may find research boring, however, the more you know about your business, the stronger your brand identity will be.
SWOT Analysis: Finally, a SWOT analysis can be helpful to better understand your brand.
Considering the characteristics of the brand will help you find what you want to portray in the brand.
SWOT stands for:
- strengths: positive characteristics that provide an advantage over your competition
- weaknesses: that can be a disadvantage to your business
- opportunities: changes and trends in your industry that provides to offer opportunities for your business
- threats: elements in the industry or environment that can cause problems for your business
Design a Logo and a Template for it
After understanding your business inside and out, it is time to bring your brand to life.
Here is what you will need to know:
Logo: Although the logo is not the entirety of the brand identity, it is a vital element of the branding process.
It is one of the most recognizable parts of your brand.
You will need to consider the above elements for designing a brand that includes color and type, shape, and form.
Templates: When you send out emails, type letters, or hand out business cards to potential customers on daily basis, you will need to create a template for the logo.
Creating templates will give your business a more unified, credible, and professional look.
Consistency: This is what makes or breaks a brand’s identity.
Use the aforementioned templates and follow the design choices you have decided upon for your brand throughout all areas of your business.
This will help to create a harmonious brand identity.
Flexibility: Though consistency is important, remaining flexible in society is looking for the next best thing that is equally crucial.
This will allow for adjustments in ad campaigns, taglines, and even some modernizing to your overall identity.
Moreover, you can continuously keep your audience interested.
Document: One of the most effective ways to make sure a business sticks to its branding ‘rules’ is to create a set of brand guidelines.
This will document all of the do’s and don’ts of your brand.
3# Integerate Language you can use to Connet, Advertise, and Embody on Social Media
After establishing your brand within your company and taking all the necessary steps, it is ready to integrate your brand within your community.
And one of the most successful ways to get this is for you to provide quality content.
Language: Use language that matches the personality of your brand.
If your brand identity is high-end, use professional language.
However, if your brand is laid-back, be more conversational.
The language you choose to use as a brand tends to be integrated through the business, so it is important to carefully craft your tone to match the brand’s personality.
Connection and Emotion: People tend to love stories.
More accurately, people love stories that move them.
Moreover, a strong brand identity can help you establish an emotional connection with consumers that can be a solid foundation for building a lasting relationship with a brand.
Advertise: Designing ads, whether traditional or digital, is the most efficient way of introducing your brand to the public.
Moreover, it is a great way to get the message of your brand to be seen and heard by your target audience.
Social Media: Another great way to establish a connection with your target audience is through social media.
A lot of platforms on the internet offer tons of digital real estate you can use to establish your brand identity.
It is also important when it comes to conversing directly with your customers and creating affinity for your brand.
Know what to Avoid
Though you can follow all the steps of creating a strong brand identity, however, if you follow any of the following practices, your brand may falter to fail:
Avoid giving your Customers Mixed Messages: Know what you want to way.
Moreover, use the right language and visuals to say it.
Just because it makes sense to you does not mean it will make sense to your customers.
Do not copy your Competitors: Your competition may have extraordinary branding, and as you are selling the same products or services, you may want to do what works.
However, don’t make such a mistake.
Take what they do into consideration and put your own twist on it to make your brand stand out in your industry even more.
Don’t Lose Consistency between Online and Offline: Yes, your print material can look a little different than your online presence.
However, your colors, type, theme, and message should all be consistent.
Scale, so not Sacrifice it: As your brand scales into new channels, avoid the urge to simply chase trends that do not align with the core of your brand.
Scaling identity only works when you iterate off the original work rather than creating new work entirely.
Monitor your Brand to maintain its Brand Identity
Just like other aspects of your marketing, it is difficult to know what you are doing right, without tracking key performance matrices.
You can use Google Analytics, surveys, comments, social media discussions, etc to monitor your brand and get a sense of how people are talking and interacting with you.
Moreover, this will give you an opportunity to implement changes to your brand as needed, whether it is to correct a mistake or to improve the brand’s identity.