A unique, memorable brand identity is the most effective way a small business, startup, nonprofit, agency, or established business can gain a competitive edge in an overly crowded marketplace. This cannot happen overnight. You cannot just choose a few colors, slap them together to form a logo, and tell yourself that you have expressed your brand.
You must approach your design strategically. This process requires critical thinking, effective communication with a professional designer, and an in-depth understanding of your brand.
What’s your brand identity?
Could it be your infographic style?
Your logo?
Or color palette?
Well, it’s all that – plus more.
It is your brand’s outward expression, including its name, visual appearance, trademark, and communications. Brand identity is a sum of how the brand looks, speaks, and feels to the target audience. Ultimately, it is a way to communicate with the world around your business, differentiate it from the competition, and offer a brand experience that encourages consumers to engage with your company.
Here are important steps to follow to express your brand successfully.
Develop the brand’s name
Your brand needs an identity so that your target audience can recognize it. To achieve that, you must create a visual look and feel for your brand. Also, you need to create an outstanding customer experience for your target audience. Think about how these customers will feel and think when interacting with your brand.
A good brand name should be memorable and distinctive. Analyze your brand persons and brand promise. What name would you successfully tell your target customer what your brand is all about? Just think about Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Dunkin Donuts. A straightforward brand name might not be so creative, but it helps customers to know what the brand does instantly.
Also, you can combine two different words to create a new name. Think about Coppertone, the suntan lotion. Other successful brands are named after both real and fictional people. Examples of such brand names include George Foreman Grill and Levi Strauss. With this approach, customers associate the brand’s attributes with the values of the individual it’s named after.
Sometimes, it makes more sense to create a name that has no meaning. What’s the meaning of ‘Sony’? The meaning of the term ‘Apple’ has no connection to the products and services that the company offers. To create impactful meaning in a fictitious brand name, you must promote the brand with effective marketing and communication.
Create a brand feel and outlook
If you want your clients to recognize your brand the moment they see it, you need to create a visual identity system for it. You need a distinctive symbol or logo. So, choose what best suits your brand identity.
Next, choose the right color palette. Specify the colors that will be used for your logo and ensure that they are complementary colors that can be used on other elements of your brand, such as its website, product packaging, and more. Additionally, you need to choose a typeface for your brand. The typography identity includes consistent images, icons, types of text, and more.
The brand touchpoints and promise
When consumers buy your products or services, they go through a unique set of steps known as customer experience. Each of these steps is a ‘touch point’ where you can touch your customers. That’s is the greatest opportunity to reinforce your brand promise. Here are the important touchpoints (steps) that you need.
Step 1: Recognition – This is the initial step where your target consumers realize that they need something.
Step 2: Information search – This is where the consumers gather information on various brands and specify what brand could address what needs. This is an important touchpoint because it’s where consumers are most receptive to a brand’s message.
Step 3: Purchase – once the consumers evaluate the brand message and find the brand that can best deliver the benefits or features they desire, they will move to the next phase – purchase.
Step 4: Post-purchase behavior – once your customers begin using your products, they will definitely compare results they get with their expectations. They will know whether or not the product is delivered according to their expectations. Was your brand’s promise delivered?
These four touchpoints must be clearly defined. Next, determine where these important touchpoints should happen, when, and what to tell the customer. Do you remember the list of brand drivers that you made? Revisit this list and choose a specific goal that you can emphasize at each touchpoint. That means every touchpoint has a unique driver.
Spread each of these brand drivers across each touchpoint or step of the customer experience success. This way, you will be able to create a tight and more loyal relationship with your clients.
