Branding?

The word ‘brand’, or ‘branding’ is a word commonly thrown around on a day-to-day basis, although many people do not entirely understand what is involved in building a killer brand identity, and some business don’t value the process as much as they should.

When designing a new brand and logo, it is necessary to ask yourself a few important questions:

What defines your brand?

A consistent and killer brand identity is much more than just a logo and name. A brand represents the personality of the company, and the relationship it has with its target market. Your brand is a representation of your key values, personality, identity and positioning in your desired target market.

Who is your Audience?

Before you start creating a name and logo for your brand, first of all, map out who you want to target and why.

• • B2B (business to business)
  • B2C (business to consumer)
  • What problem will you solve or what service will you provide?

Now ask yourself ‘why’…

This is the most important question to ask yourself before any creative process. The answer to your ‘why’ will be the driving force for your brand to be where you want it to be. A brand is nothing without its customers and/or clients.

Brand Strategy and Research

Researching your competition, understanding your market and its target audience is crucial for any brand. This can give some insight on what they’re doing right, and where they’re falling short, and what (if any) gaps are in the market that you can capitalise on. Inspiration is also derived from market research and can spark ideas for how you want to ‘stand out’ from the competition. You should completely understand your brand’s audience, your market and your competition – this will aid in the direction of where your brand should go.

Creative Execution

Branding is marketing, so the name, logo and identity you create can play a vital role in explaining what your business is about. This will then feed into the brand development stage, which is creating an identity from the chosen name and logo. A logo is not a brand, but an aid to evoke your identity. Some key questions to ask are:

• Is the brand strong and authoritative?
• Welcoming and friendly?
• Professional and up-market?
• Smart and trusting?
• What colours will best represent the brand?
• What typeface will best represent the brand?

This will help convey the look and feel of your brand, including your tone of voice.

What will your Tone be?

Tone of Voice is how you will communicate with your market. Emotive language is always a great way to talk with your audience, not at them.

With all the above taken into consideration, what name will best resonate with your audience? Coming up with a brand name is trickier than you might think. When considering your brand name, take readability into consideration. If the brand name is too difficult for your market to remember or spell, this could impact upon visibility and keeping ‘top of mind’.

Consider these points before the naming process:

• How complex is it to pronounce?
• How easy is it to spell
• What is the meaning and or reason for the name?
• Take into consideration all of the above-mentioned points and this will guide you in creating a logo and brand that resonance with your audience.

Brand Identity

With your chosen name and logo, how will your brand be perceived? The colours you have chosen for your brand should have a meaning and purpose. These colours that resemble your brand can then be used throughout all brand touch points such as website, social media content, stationery and all marketing and advertising collateral.

Imagery selection is also a consideration. The style and choice of images must reflect your brand identity. Doing this helps build brand trust and consistency. With the right imagery, you can start to build a lifestyle around your service and/or product. People relate to visuals, so ensure your choice of images is appealing to your target audience. Keep your imagery consistent, so your message is always clear and relevant.

There you have it, the makings of a great brand identity! Now is time to advertise and market your product…

If you need help with your branding, why not get some advice from the branding experts? Contact us here.