The importance of designing a brand identity
As the embodiment of the essence of the company and its activities, the brand lives and develops in the minds and hearts of consumers. Designing a brand identity is one of the most popular content marketing strategies in recent years. In addition, a well-designed brand strategy can also:
- Develop your company’s reputation by giving it a face and personality.
- Build trust and credibility.
Generate impressions through advertising. - Secure future business activity, leading to increased financial value.
- Define your company’s mission to consumers and employees.
- Attract new customers and retain existing ones
All of these points have a positive impact on your business.
How to create your own brand identity?
- Conduct market research.
- Create a design.
- Integrate the brand into the company’s messaging.
- Avoid negative publicity.
- Track brand performance.
Building a recognizable and popular brand takes some effort. The following steps are simple, but implementing them can sometimes be a daunting task. For its brand identity, a company can also use the Kapferer publication.
Conduct market research to design a brand identity
As with any other aspect of starting a business, market research is the first step in developing a brand identity. You need to identify and understand the following five elements.
Session
Knowing your audience is essential, because even if you want your message to be seen by the largest number of people, targeting people who are not interested in your products can cost you dearly in terms of low ROI.
On the other hand, it is generally not advisable to present a product to a pre-teen in the same way as it would to a college student, for example. Mastering the audience expectations of a business in a given industry is crucial to creating a brand that consumers appreciate.
Value proposition and competition
What makes your company unique in your sector? What can you offer consumers compared to other organizations?
To create a strong brand, it is essential to create a value proposition to know what sets you apart from your competitors. By monitoring it, you will also be able to identify the most successful branding techniques.
The mission
You know the products and services you offer, but make sure you clearly and concisely communicate why your company exists by including your vision and goals, otherwise it will be difficult for you to define its personality. The mission, vision and values of the trio are indeed an essential element in creating a brand.
Personal
Even if you’re not creating a brand that represents an individual, you can still give it some personality. Use fonts, colors, and visuals to represent its identity. Then, reinforce that image with your tone of voice: Is your company confident and bold, like Nike? Or does it inspire elegance and professionalism, like Givenchy? Either way, make sure your brand reflects your business. Market research is hard work but rewarding, because the better you know your business, the more you’ll reinforce your brand identity.
Analysis
Finally, the analysis can give you a better understanding of your brand identity design. By studying its characteristics, you will be able to easily identify the attributes to highlight:
- Strengths: The strengths of your business, which give you an advantage over your competitors.
- Weaknesses: The aspects that pose obstacles to your business.
- Opportunities: Changes and trends in your industry that provide you with new opportunities.
- Risks: Elements in your environment or industry that could cause problems for your business.
Design a business identity
Once you know your business perfectly, it’s time to give your brand a visual identity: “Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.”
1 – Logo
Although the importance of designing a brand identity is not limited to the logo, it is an important part of the branding process, as it is the most distinctive element of the brand. It appears on multiple media, whether it is your website, your business cards or online advertisements. It is generally associated with the slogan that should know, in a short and decisive sentence, how to reveal the positioning and values of the brand.
Given this wide spread, the brand should be as consistent as possible.
2 – Creativity
Despite its importance, your logo is not the only element that reinforces your brand identity. Your products and the way you offer your services should play a role in your brand.
By visually representing your business in everything you create, you ensure consistency in your image and create a sense of familiarity among your customers. The golden arches of McDonald’s, for example, bear witness to creative research.
3- Choosing the right colors for designing a brand identity
Choosing a color palette allows you to define your identity. This gives you some variety to create unique designs for your business, while maintaining your brand identity.
A typeface can also be a double-edged sword if not used correctly. Although font combinations are popular these days, this does not mean that this combination is right for your business.
Your logo, website, and the materials you create (print and digital formats) should use a consistent typography.