How familiar are you with the concept of brand identity? How does this identity impact the perception of the company in question? What elements should you consider when developing your very own brand identity? While these appear to be seemingly straightforward questions, many business owners still struggle with their answers.

The main issue here is that a poorly envisioned branding campaign can have a massive impact on the success of your venture. For example, did you know that a staggering 86 per cent of all consumers state that authenticity is the most important deciding factor? What about other embedded elements such as content and the overall mission statement?

These are some of the questions that we will address below. It is still a good idea to quickly summarise the meaning of a brand identity before moving on. If you have been struggling to develop the right image for your budding business, the chances are high that the information below will prove to be quite useful.

Defining the Concept of a Brand Identity

You may have already heard marketing experts discuss why developing a strong brand identity is crucial for success. However, what exactly is this identity? From a basic point of view, a brand identity serves to define the image of your company (as it appears to the consumer). Many elements will contribute to a brand identity such as:

• The design of the logo
• The quality of your website content
• What problems or issues you are trying to address
• Your overall mission statement
• The type of audience that you hope to cater to

In other words, a brand identity is the main factor that makes your products and services visible to consumers. A solid identity will help to increase overall recognition while simultaneously engendering a greater degree of loyalty.

How to Develop a Brand Identity

2Image by Gamiria Agencia de Marketing Digital from Pixabay

Now that we have learned to appreciate the fundamentals of a brand identity, it is only logical to look at how one can be created. To be clear, this will likely require a good amount of brainstorming and there is nothing wrong with thinking outside of the proverbial box. There are still two main metrics to determine:

• Appreciating what your company intends to accomplish.
• Knowing your buyer persona.

What is the overall mission statement of your company? What are its core values? What type of audience are you hoping to target? What makes your products and services rise head and shoulders above the competition? These questions will help you to identify the unique traits which define your venture.

In the same respect, it is important to know your buyer persona (the typical end-user). Here are some of the elements to define:

• Goals
• Buying patterns
• Problems that they are hoping to solve
• Location, age and gender
• Personal interests

The primary intention here is to better appreciate what types of branding will appear to the typical customer. Once you have answered this question, you can begin creating a brand identity from scratch. This leads us directly into the next section.

Developing Your Very Own Brand Identity

One of the most important variables to remember is that there is no single way to create a brand identity. Instead, it is a good idea to focus upon several key elements. As this article points out, you should analyse these factors:

• Logo design
• Media content
• Your social media presence and the associated elements (such as hashtags)
• Authenticity, transparency and responsibility

We can think of these variables as “spokes” that will eventually be connected to the hub of your entire marketing campaign. Naturally, every venture takes a slightly different approach depending upon their unique requirements as well as what they are ultimately trying to achieve.

The Nuts and Bolts of Brand Designs

We live in an extremely visual society. To put this observation into perspective, research carried out by MicroCreatives found that 61 per cent of all marketing professionals believe that graphical elements are the best ways to attract your intended audience. Here are some examples:

• The font and typeface of your logo
• The colours used
• Any shapes that may be present
• Product packaging
• Any mission statement (discussed earlier)

Now that we have examined some of the variables which need to be considered, what else should you keep in mind during the development process?

Logos: Simplicity is the Spice of Life

Think about some of the most memorable brands today. The chances are high that you will cite companies such as Coca-Cola, IBM, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. What do all their logos have in common? The simple answer is simplicity. Straightforward logo design can convey the core traits of your organisation without overwhelming the end-user. Furthermore, they tend to be much easier to remember.

A Universal Presence

Let’s also remember that visibility is key in this day and age. This is why you should make it a point to adopting a style of branding that is compatible across the digital community. From branded mobile applications (such as customer loyalty programmes) to designs that will appear the same when viewed on multiple devices, flexibility is key today.

If your brand identity enjoys such a ubiquitous presence, the chances are much higher than it will be noticed by more consumers. There are two main benefits here. First, recognition will make all the difference in the world between success and failure. Secondly, this very same recognition will help your business rank higher within massive search engines such as Google and Bing.

All About Experimentation

We should finally mention that developing a unique brand identity will normally not occur overnight. It is always a good idea to brainstorm and to present your ideas to other stakeholders. This is a great way of obtaining much-needed input at the appropriate times.

A solid brand identity is the foundation of any successful venture. So, make it a point to experiment with different ideas and never hesitate to think outside of the proverbial box. There is no doubt that you will eventually find what you have been looking for.

Author Bio: 

Paula O Gorman is the Design & Marketing Manager at Promotive, a Design and Marketing Agency. They have helped many businesses with their logo designs and brand identity for over 20 years.