Branding is so much more than a company’s logo and visual aesthetics. It’s everything that people say, think and feel about a company and their products. I love this quote about branding…
There’s nothing better than experiencing branding that simply works. Branding in which everything — from the products or services sold, to the tone of voice and the visuals — makes perfect sense. There are no unwanted surprises that leave a bad taste; only promises that are kept and expectations that are met.
Whatever touchpoint you come into contact with — a website, an instagram account, a physical store, packaging of a product, or customer service — when things are right on brand, it’s easy to tell that you’ve found the perfect business to buy from or work with. It tells you a cohesive story about what the business is all about. If it’s a story you relate to and can become emotionally invested in, then that’s the business most likely to win you over, above any other options.
That’s what you want to create. Not just a business — a brand experience.
- Lisa Furze, Branding Expert
Branding is all about building associations in your audience’s mind about what your company means, what it stands for. Apple isn’t a multi-billion dollar company because it has a piece of fruit as it’s logo. It’s everything that you think of and feel when you see that logo, or use that company’s products.
Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.
- Steve Forbes, Editor in chief of Forbes Magazine
The benefits of branding:
- Establishes your business’s credibility
- Increases recognisability
- Attracts your ideal customers
- Earns trust and loyalty
- Sets you apart from the competition
- Encourages emotional connections
- Provides clarity on your direction
- Communicates your story and message
- Adds real value to your business
Having a consistent brand isn’t just about your aesthetics, but every single touchpoint a customer has with you, including:
- your logo and visual identity
- your social media profiles & website
- your tone of voice in your copy
- your customer experience
- your products and package
- your emails and direct communication
- your store front
- etc.
Understanding your customer
Developing your brand first requires understanding who your audience is, what they care about, and how you can help them. The factors that matter for your business could be any of the following:
- age
- job
- gender
- ethnicity
- location where they live, work or travel to
- level of education
- favourite social network, magazine or tv shows
- personality
- core values and preferences
- hobbies or interests
Then you need to understand what their needs / goals are and how your product or service can help them solve their goals:
- What is their main problem / frustration?
- What do they want to achieve?
- How do they want to achieve it?
- How does your product or service solve this need?
- What transformational experience can you offer?
Lead with why
What’s are the core values that your brand believes in? What do you stand for? What do you care about? Try to list the 5 most important values to your brand (fairness, individuality, creativity, women’s empowerment, sustainability, etc) and then look through every touchpoint of your business to make sure you are clearly living and communicating those values.
I love this Ted Talk from Simon Sinek about leading with your why.
Your brand values aren’t something to list in your business plan or about me page and forget about, they should be woven into every fibre of your business.
One brand that is an amazing example of living their values is Aerie – they care about body positivity and inclusivity and you see that in their imagery, website, tone of voice, choice of influencers, committment to never re-touching or photoshopping images. As a result not only have sales skyrocketted, but they havve built a strong relationship with their audience and converted customers to raving fans.
What is your brand personality?
Try to describe your brand like it was a person. What would be it’s personality? How would it speak? How would people describe it?
Branding comes down to one key thing - Define what your brand stands for, its core values and tone of voice, and then communicate consistently in those terms.
- Tina May
Visual Aesthetics
Then, once you have gotten really clear on all of the above, you can come to aesthetics of your brand. What colors, fonts, aesthetics best represent the brand you are working to create?
This is an example of a brand identity style guide (and it’s a template you will receive during the course!) that highlights the key visual style of the brand. In this case the moodboard includes photos, but this could also be graphics or animations.
Here are some examples of brand guidelines, the bigger the organisation and the more people who are creating communications for it the more thorugh the brand guidelines need to be. Many small businesses or personal brands would simply have a few short paragraphs describing their brand.