When people think about your business or organization what is it that comes to mind? Do people perceive your business in the way you want them to? If not, take time to examine your brand identity, the first line of communication between you and your customers. If you haven't pondered these questions yet, wait no longer!
Brand Identity combines different visual and sensory elements and works as a strategic tool to build recognition, broadcast your message, communicate your values, and express what sets your business apart from the others.
If this seems just a little confusing let me just clarify by giving you a couple of easy examples from the music industry. When you think about the band KISS, what comes to mind? Painted faces, platform boots, metal and leather, the iconic logo. Their brand is distinct, powerful and unmistakable. Another great example is Daft Punk, the electronic music duo. Their space-age helmets and futuristic sci-fi style are synonymous with their brand. Even the fact that they maintain a certain anonymity behind the helmets is part of their brand. All of these things together set a very specific and intentional mood or atmosphere around these performers and their music. In the same way your business should communicate to its fans or customers.
What is the purpose of your brand? Brand purpose is the reason for your brand to exist beyond making money. The purpose of your brand needs to relate directly to its products or services. To understand the purpose of your brand, you should know your core brand values, mission statement, and value proposition. Be clear about what makes your brand unique or why people should choose to do business with you. A well-thought-out brand purpose must have the customer in mind at every step. Remember, your end goal is to connect with customers emotionally, to make your brand a more desirable selection.
The first step is to target your audience. Who are you trying to reach and why? Different people want different things. You can't target a product to people in their 20s the same way you would target a product to ones in their 30s. You must research as much as you can to know what your target audience would want from your brand. Based on your target audience, you can create a brand voice that can directly target them.
The best brands speak with one distinctive voice. On the web, in a tweet, in conversations with a salesperson, in a speech given by the president, your brand must project the same voice and unified message. Whether it is a call to action or a product description, language must be vital, straightforward, eloquent, and meaningful. Be sure the meaning is accessible to all customers. When developing key messages and brand descriptions, you must preserve the impact by keeping them unique yet simple and easy to understand. Your brand messages will work well if they refine the essence of your product or service. Create sample templates for frequently used messages, social media copies and emails.
A strong visual identity comprises all the visual elements of your brand. The most important ones are the logo, color palette and typography. These are the "clothes", so to speak, of your brand. They're your organizations style.
Your logo is the forward face of your brand. It must clearly convey what your brand stands for. A good logo should be simple, memorable, timeless, versatile and appropriate to your brand. It should stand out among your immediate competitors as well as the common visual language of your industry. Since your logo will appear everywhere your audience interacts with your brand, it's very important that it looks good wherever it's placed.
The color palette you use will evoke emotion and express the personality of your brand. The brain reads color before it reads the content. A study shows that people make a subconscious judgment about a product within the initial 90 seconds and between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone. You must choose your colors wisely as your print accessories, website colors, social media graphics and everything else will follow these brand colors.
Typography is a core building block of an effective brand identity. Brands like Apple, Zara and Vogue are immediately recognizable due to the distinctive and consistent typographical style they use everywhere. There are many options to choose from the four basic fonts groups: Serif, Sans Serif, Script and Display fonts. Just like your brand colors, make sure to choose 1-3 fonts and consistently use the same fonts everywhere. Choose a typeface that is flexible and easy to use. Clarity and legibility are the drivers.
All of these elements of brand identity will fit together and position your brand where you want and need it to be. Understanding the importance of brand identity as the outward face or your organization is the first step. Managing and cultivating your brand identity into the future will be the next important part of the process. Don't be afraid to get the help of a professional when you need it. Brand identity is an important element in communicating to the the world and should not be neglected!