A Guide To Creating a Strong Brand in 2021
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There are tons of huge brands that are popular because their products are more than just products. Brands like Starbucks or Pepsi to Rolex or Apple have created products that provide experiences, and we buy them with that experience in mind. These companies know how to create and market their products very well, from the language in their Instagram captions to the material they use for their packaging. Companies who create strong brands know that their brand needs to live everywhere and in return they get chosen out of a large variety of options.
Our team at Bold x Collective has put together a guide on branding and its importance in todays world.
Branding is what gives your company an identity.
What is Branding?
Branding is the process of researching, developing, and applying original elements to your company so that consumers can begin to associate your brand with your products or services. Branding is what gives your company an identity, it makes your brand unforgettable and encourages consumers to buy from you. Consumers tend to buy products from companies they know or like, and branding can be the deciding factor for them to make a purchasing decision.
Companies should know the importance and value of branding their business. Knowing brand-related terms is also crucial and will help you to grow as a business. Some terms to keep in mind are; brand awareness which refers to how familiar your brand is to the public. High brand awareness leads to brands being referred to as “trendy” or “popular”. Next is brand extension, this is when companies “extend” their brand to develop new products in different industries or markets. This will allow companies to create more revenue and diversity in their line of products. Another term is brand identity, this is the personality of your business, it’s how you want your customers to feel when they interact with your product. Brand management refers to how you create and maintain your brand. This is where you manage elements of your brand, such as the style, packaging or colour palette, and also how your brand is perceived by your target audience and customers. Brand recognition, this is how well one can identify your brand without seeing your business name - through your logo, packaging or advertising. Next is brand trust, this is how customers and consumers believe in your brand. It’s important to be able to deliver on your marketing promises and go above and beyond for your customers. Lastly, brand valuation is what increases your business’s value. It all comes down to how your brand is perceived by consumers, recognition, and trust.
Branding is so much more than a cool logo or well-placed advertisement, your brand is your reputation. Building a brand is a process that requires a strategy and essentially comes down to these six steps:
Determine your target audience
Establish your mission statement
Define your values, features, an benefits
Create your visual assets
Find your brand voice
Put your branding to work
There’s a lot that goes into a brand and a lot to consider when building a strong one.
1. Determine your target audience
Your brand should be able resonate with your audience, which will lead to awareness, recognition, trust, and revenue. You must understand who your branding will be speaking too, who your product serves, who’s your ideal customer and why you created your business in the first place. It’s important to learn about your target market and audience, this will influence your branding decisions in the future.
2. Establish your mission statement
Your mission statement should come from why you created your business to begin with. Answering this will help build a strong mission statement, which will define your purpose and passion as an organization. You must be able to communicate the purpose that your business provides in order to reflect that mission and vision. Every part of your brand is important including your logo, tagline, imagery, voice, and personality. Your mission statement also comes from why your organization exists and why people should care about your brand. This will lead to an audience that recognizes, trusts and values your brand.
3. Define your unique values, qualities, and benefits
There are a lot of businesses in your industry who have the same types of products as you, but you must recognize the one thing that your business has that others don’t, which is your brand. Your brand should contain elements that are merely yours such as the values, benefits, and qualities that make your company unique. Ask yourself what sets your business apart from others and how your products or services improve lives and contribute to success.
4. Create your visual assets
At this point, you should understand your target audience, complete your mission statement, and the unique qualities that make up your business. The next step of branding is creating visual components, such as your logo, colour palette, typography, iconography, and more.
5. Find your brand voice
Figure out how you’d like to communicate with your target market, you want to define a brand voice that will connect with your audience to make sure they’re paying attention to your brand. Ensure your tone is consistent throughout all of your written content, including your ads, social media captions, blog posts and your brand story. Allow your audience to familiarize themselves with your brand. It’s best to create a fun and entertaining voice, one that’ll make customers look forward to your posts and email updates.
6. Put your brand to work
Figure out how you’d like to communicate with your target market, you want to define a brand voice that will connect with your audience to make sure they’re paying attention to your brand. Ensure your tone is consistent throughout all of your written content, including your ads, social media captions, blog posts and your brand story. Allow your audience to familiarize themselves with your brand. It’s best to create a fun and entertaining voice, one that’ll make customers look forward to your posts and email updates.
Once you finish creating and designing your brand, be sure to coordinate it throughout every part of your business. Ensure that it’s displayed anywhere that your customers see. Some tips on where to apply your branding are:
a. Website:
Display your logo, colour palette and typography across your website. Your company’s identity mainly comes from your website, therefore it should reflect your brand. Also, ensure that all your product descriptions mirror your brand voice.
b. Social Media
Making your profile photo your logo will allow customers to recognize your business. All photos, cover art, and branded imagery should reflect your brand. Along with your profile information, posts and captions which should reflect your brand's voice.
c. Packaging: If your business sells physical products, your packaging should reflect your branding from the colours, sizes and feel.
d. Advertising: Your branding should make creating ads easier using your brands style. Advertising is used to establish brand awareness and introduce new customers to your brand, so it's crucial they reflect your branding.
e. Sales and Customer Service: You must ensure that you and/or your team are putting in the work for your brand, otherwise it won’t work for you. When engaging directly with customers, you should have brand guidelines in place.
Here are some tips on branding for small business:
Treat your brand as a person
Prioritize consistency
Follow a brand strategy
Don’t let inspiration turn into imitation
Use branding to hire
Treat your brand as a person
Your brand should have an identity, personality, and experience. Find ways to make the appearance of your brand edgy and different. Make sure when customers see your brand they’ll want to remember it. The purpose of branding is to create relationships with your customers and the easiest way to do this is by treating your brand as a person.
Prioritize consistency
It is crucial to be consistent with your branding. When your brand comes across on any social media platform or mediums, customers can easily get familiar with, and recognize your branding. Inconsistency is the number one branding mistake that companies make. Inconsistency will only undermine your brand and confuse your customers.
Build and follow a brand strategy
A brand strategy is a plan with specific long term goals for your company. These goals can be achieved as your brand evolves. Your company’s goals should revolve around your brand’s purpose, emotion, flexibility, competitive awareness and employee involvement. Branding is a continuous process, a lot of effort must be put into it, a brand strategy will get your business moving towards success.
Don’t let inspiration turn into imitation
Competitive analysis is important, it educates you on where your competition stands. This can give you ideas on how to improve your brand as well. However, try not to fall into an imitation trap. It’s best to focus on your brand and keep your competitive research limited. Some brands may use similar techniques or branding strategies, but this doesn’t mean you should do the same. Try to stand out, be unique with your brand and you’ll definitely be remembered.
Use branding to hire
Leverage your branding to attract talented people. If you feel like hiring employees is a good idea for your brand, then dedicate some time and resources to employer branding. Employer branding is how you market your company to job seekers and current employees.
““A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.””
Conclusion
Branding is so much more than your organization’s name, logo, colours, voice, and imagery, it’s that satisfying feeling your customers have when they interact with your brand. Strong brands thrive when they focus on the bigger picture of their brand. Put your brand out there, find your target audience, and a successful brand will follow.
The Bold x Collective team specializes in branding for businesses. Whether you’re refreshing a brand or creating a launching a new brand, in today’s competitive landscape having an effective brand can make all the difference. We specialize in creating distinctive and influential brands that resonate. By combining creative, digital and strategy, we’ll make sure your brand doesn’t just capture market space, but also captures the hearts and minds of your target audience.
We walk you through the process of brand discovery and research before creating your brand strategy. A brand strategy acts as a guiding light for all future communication and establishment of brand objectives. From here, we craft your brand’s visual identity and verbal language to ensure the look and tone is authentic and inline with your brand strategy. Contact us to get started!