A strong brand identity is a vital component of your marketing efforts.
Alternatively, think how out of place a logo for a boxing gym looks on a children’s clothing store.
The marketing ads are warm, friendly, cosy.
They had a strong brand identity, brands that everybody to this day knows who and what they are.
Your brand is like your reputation; it’s a signifier of quality products, effective service, and is how you present your company’s character to the world.
Do your research, what made previous brands in your niche fail horribly, what made some of them succeed.
The former should elicit an emotion of power, or wildness, the other of familiarity and cuteness.
What are the brands in your area doing? How do they approach the market, what are they doing well? What are they doing poorly?
Remember to stay consistent in every area of your design.
In practice, answering these questions means setting up a style, a visual personality of your brand.
Answering these questions will automatically give you a guideline on how to develop a strong brand identity that stands out amongst the crowd.
1 – Figure out your goals and values
Also, as much as you can, stick to the identity you chose, to the style of speech you’re decided to go with.
They aimed at people (mostly men) with high salaries, in the higher levels of society (or men who want to be perceived in that way.)
They refused to change when they should have.
Just as you should create a consistent brand, and identity that truly represents you and your company, you should also be ready to change.
- So, are you targeting teenagers or adults?
- Are you setting your sights for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, or do you want to provide goods and services to Sydney stay-at-home homemakers?
- Will your primary target audience be teenagers, or preteens, boys or girls?
- What is their age group and their educational background?
- What about your goals?
- What makes you stand out, what do you want to achieve?
- Are you going for an international chain of business, or do you want to provide the best possible service in your area only?
Of course, you want to be able to do this.
Chinese coders, American marketing professionals, Russian graphic designers… all have their own languages at home, but in their work, they work towards eliciting a response from the user.
Think of its evolution and growth.
However, to do this, you need to figure out who you want your company to be.
If you want to create a brand that truly represents you and your company, then we suggest you check out the guidelines below.
Figure out what you want to achieve, what you want your voice to sound like.
5 Ways to Develop a Strong Brand Identity that Stands Out
Let’s take a classic example – Coca-Cola.
Just remember – when was the last time you saw the Pepsi logo stay the same for a more significant period?
Whichever one of these may be, you can find examples below.
2 – Language and communication
Know that the former is vital if you want to develop an effective version of the latter.
Think about the effect a roaring, angry bear has compared to a cute teddy bear with glasses and overalls.
Is your logo minimalistic, or free-flowing?
No, it morphs, changes, transforms further and further.
You may want to access another market or another consumer group.
So, what is the emotion you want to elicit when people look at your website?
The designer creates a website that looks and feels a certain way, the programmer will set up the right code that serves as the foundation, and the marketing expert will bring people to the website.
So, your website, company stores, all the way down to the stationery you use, it all needs to be in line with the style you chose.
However, look at basically any luxury car brand.
And yet, they are pretty much dying out, if not outright in the grave.
3 – Design and emotions
First, this means that every section and part of your marketing and branding efforts are in line with your vision and your brand personality.
Have a social media account set up and talk to people.
If you want to get your name out there, it’s not enough to just advertise your products and services.
Their target audience is basically everyone, but it’s clear they are (most of the time) gunning for a family-friendly vibe.
There are many jokes about the rivalry between Pepsi and coca-cola, but whichever one is the winner, we all know that Pepsi is a multibillion-dollar company.
They present themselves as elegant, stylish, and debonair.
A universal trait that is behind language, something you want to tap into, is emotion.
How formal is your brand? If I were a person, how would it speak?
Next, you want to do your homework properly.
They gave old spice a whimsically, youthful and virile image, pulling a 180 on what was there before.
Do you prefer to offer affordable and reliable products, or are you more into the luxury side of things?
The other reason may be that you are just extending, rather than revamping.
Furthermore, communicate with your audience, show them that you are interested, that you care.
It’s the foundation upon which most of your marketing work should stand.
Couple this with a clear understanding that change and growth are sometimes necessary, that evolution is vital for the development of your brand and company.
If you decide on one look, on only a certain set of emotions you want to create (warmth, closeness, family), then this needs to be represented in your logo, your website, colour schemes.
Before, it was seen a brand for older people, an old scent that just isn’t as popular as it used to be.
4 – Revise and revamp
However, we all know those Terry Crews and Isaiah Mustafa commercials.
What is your company about – understand your strengths, weaknesses…
Now, remember what your brand’s personality is – then let that be reflected in the language you use.
Moreover, one of the best ways to do this is through language and communication.
What about Old Spice?
Is your tagline something cheerful and positive and inviting (“I’m loving it”), or perhaps something stern, clear, and motivational (“Just Do It”)?
If you’re a soft drink company whose aim is primarily teenager, go with something light, and energetic.
Strong brand identity needs to be flexible.
Now, brand identity is a much broader concept that encompasses much more than just your brand.
Once you have developed your strong brand identity, branding itself will be easy and more effective.
Another vital aspect you need to understand is that your brand is not just something that is fixed, that your brand identity just stays the way it is.
First, you want a total revamp to refresh your entire brand (either because of a mistake that occurred, or simply to living things up).
They revitalised to form a strong brand identity.
Will your website be all in black and gold, or perhaps soothing, earthy tones?
What happened there? Poor management? Subpar planning? Did they spread themselves too thin, and just started advancing too early?
You want to be consistent with your brand in every facet of your campaign.
Nokia, Blockbuster, Xerox – what do these three companies have in common?
5 – Be thorough and brave
Think of a brand or company that you remember was dominating the entire industry scene, and then just disappeared.
Pepsi has been changing things up for years now.
Their goals were to provide an affordable, delicious product everybody likes.
Also, when we say emotion, we truly think – a visceral reaction, an immediate response.
These are essential elements, of course, you need them to be part of your marketing efforts.
Alternatively, do they have the exact opposite problem, where they never dared to change?
Answer their questions, offer special deals, build your reputation in this manner.
What about your brand, your logo design, your slogan?
A great example is the most interesting man in the world, Dos Equis.
Think of brand identity as a foundation for this, as the actual personality your company has.
Keeping with our luxury car example above, their website will most likely be black and grey and silver.
Sometimes change is needed.
Before you begin developing a strong brand identity, you need to sit down and think a couple of things through.
A big part of keeping your brand healthy and alive, while still standing out, is by being thorough and consistent.
You figured out what your brand should be, but you also need to present it to the world.
Just imagine the Mcdonald’s yellow and red colour scheme used for a luxury watch website.
They refused to innovate, to change.
These two dictate what your brand will look like; they will determine what your company’s “personality” is.
Conclusion
One excellent example is Pepsi.
It was associated with old-timers, with a lack of modernity.
First of all, who is your audience and second, what are your goals.
When you answer all these questions (and the question that will definitely spring up), you will have an easier time creating your personality.
- What is its voice, its personality?
- Then, how will it speak?
- What does it look like?
However, you will get the best results if you focus on your brand and your brand identity.
Part of standing out among the crowd is changing when you need to.
