According to Jeff Bezos, “Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”, well I believe this one sums up the entire preposition and need of building a strong brand identity.
Here’s a powerful example of a brand identity that has become a legend in today’s world…
What’s the first thing that pops up in your mind when you hear the name “Coca-Cola”?
Most definitely it will be the legendary red logo…
So, what’s the core components of Coca-Cola’s brand identity?
- Well, the brand identity of Coca-Cola begins with the red logo that’s written in script text. The red color is the manifest of confidence, which connects to its consumers, whereas, the script text reflects enjoyment and fun. It’s reflective of your mood and how you feel in your surroundings. For instance, you will have Coca-Cola once you have accomplished something (even if that means just finished your routine work) or when you are sitting with long time buddies chatting and enjoying the moment
- The second brand identity is the uniquely shaped bottle (which no other beverage has). This describes customers that they are drinking an original thing and not any imitation; instantly boosting credibility.
Pretty convincing, right?
Honestly, when you start a business, your first quest should be to develop a unique brand identity; an identity that differentiates you from the rest, and an identity that connects well with your customers and brand philosophy.
What’s the importance of brand identity?
Your brand identity is fundamentally the embodiment of everything your business represents. It connects you with the minds and hearts of customers and differentiates you from the crowd. The brand identity starts with the brand name and goes on to undertake everything in between including the business logo, ethos, philosophy, and marketing.
What are the components of brand identity?
As said above, brand identity encompasses every aspect of your business from its name to the logo and everything in between. The individual components may vary depending upon the type and sector of the business. However, some of the core components of brand identity include:
The words:
- Brand name
- A consistent positive tone
- Clear positioning
The Aesthetics:
- Business logo
- Business graphics
- Website
- Signage
- Color palette
- Décor
The people:
- Your customers
- Your employees/staff
Social media:
- Tumblr
- YouTube
- Snapchat
How to build your brand identity?
Here are a few steps you need to consider when looking to develop a unique brand identity that can help you rise above the competition and become a legend.
1. Have a clear purpose and positioning
Before you even launch your business, you should have a clear positioning and purpose. Having a strong and clear business purpose is one of the most crucial aspects of developing a powerful brand identity. This involves everything about your business including the vision, mission, ethos, goals. Your target audience needs to be crystal clear about what your brand stands for and how it represents them. Most of the businesses fail to transform into a brand because they fail to come up with a clear positioning of the business, which makes them part of the crowd, lowly visible, and not connecting with the audience.
In essence, creating the purpose and positioning of the brand may much time, as many businesses only discover their unique positioning after operating for some time.
Here are some questions that can help you come up with a clear brand positioning and purpose:
- What’s your personality? Are you a serious and determined businessman or an old soul, a modern woman, or a fun-loving classic individual? Before you could position your brand, you would need to discover yourself, as your brand will essentially represent your personality
- What is your target audience? Who are the people you are trying to attract to your brand? You need to narrow down the exact demography of whom you want to target as your audience.
- What is your value proposition? What your audience will get if they spend their time and money doing business with you? Do you bring any real value to your customers?
- Who’s your competition? Research about your competitors is an important factor that will help you to differentiate between them and you. Look out for how your competitors are pitching to the customers, identify any loopholes you can cover, or unique ways in which you can differentiate your business from the rest.
2. Determine Your Brand Name and Tagline
As mentioned earlier, brand identity starts with your name and continues to include the tagline. Your brand name and tagline should represent your business model, as well as, your ethos and values.
An important consideration here is to make sure you don’t overly complicate the name or tagline.
While you want your name to be catchy and trendy, overcomplicating the name or using hard to remember name can spill the beans. Ideally, your brand name should be related to your services/products, whereas, your tagline should represent your values and passion.
3. Get yourself A Great Logo
There’s a reason why businesses around the world are after custom embroidery for logo services. That’s because they know the importance and impact of a unique business logo. Remember, your business logo will serve as its “Face” and it needs to have all the elements to make it legendary; just like the legendary Coca-Cola logo. Some important considerations when designing a business logo includes:
- The logo should be timeless – you wouldn’t want to change it overtime
- It should be simple – simple in a way to connect with the audience
- It should be memorable – the iconic “Tick” of Nike or bitten apple of “Apple” is hard to forget
- It should be versatile – You would need your logo at every aspect of your business operations from marketing to notepads and from merchandize to official letters, make sure it fits well everywhere.
4. The Website
In today’s world, it’s imperative to have a professionally designed and functional website to be able to develop your brand identity. Your website will be the central hub for customers, where they will come to learn, connect and interact with your business.
Some important website elements to consider includes:
- The design and color palette of the website
- Content – how you engage your audience
- User experience
- Navigability
- SEO
Wrapping up
Well, there you have it, some simple yet effective steps to build your brand identity. Remember, the key to your brand identity lies inconsistency across every aspect of your business, whether it’s about the quality of products/services or your marketing or branding campaigns. Not, go out there and build yourself a brand to be proud of!
