Brand identity

What is brand identity?

Brand identity is the collection of all elements that a company creates to portray the right image to its consumer. Brand identity is different from “brand image” and “branding,” even though these terms are sometimes treated as interchangeable.

The term branding refers to the marketing practice of actively shaping a distinctive brand. Brand is the perception of the company in the eyes of the world.

How to develop a strong brand identity – Know who you are

Before you know what tangible elements you want to make up your brand identity, you need to know who you are as a brand.

• A colorful, playful & fun brand identity design by pecas
• Who you are as a brand is made up of a few key elements:
• Your mission (what’s your “why?”)
• Your values (what beliefs drive your company?)
• Your brand personality (if your brand was a person, what kind of personality would they have?)
• Your unique positioning (how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?)
• Your brand voice (if your brand was a person, how would it communicate?)

These elements are what define your brand, and before you start building your brand identity, it’s important you have a clear understanding of each.

If you’re having trouble figuring out who exactly you are, don’t sweat it. Sometimes, all you need is a simple brainstorm to help you get clarity on who you are as a brand.

Ask yourself:

• Why did we start this business?
• What are beliefs and values that are important to us as a company?
• What do we do better than anyone else?
• What makes us special?
• If we could describe our brand in three words, what would they be?
• What are the three words we would want our customers to use to describe us?

Design: the foundation of your brand identity

Your corporate design assets are the tangible elements that will determine how your brand is perceived. Things like your logo, your packaging, your web design, your social media graphics, your business cards and the uniforms your employees wear.

In other words, nailing your design = nailing your brand identity = building a successful business that’s an accurate representation of who you are as a brand.

So, how exactly do you nail your design and build a brand identity that will take your business to the next level?

Developing your brand design

Before you start creating your design assets, you need to start from the ground up and lock in the basics of your design structure: the building blocks of your brand identity.

The building blocks you’ll want to determine before you create your design assets include:

Typography

Typography refers to, you guessed it, the font (or type) you choose for your branding materials. It’s particularly important to choose logo fonts and brand fonts wisely.

Color palette

Next up is the color palette. People—your potential customers included—have psychological ties to different colors, and using branding colors and logo colors strategically can have a serious impact on how your brand is perceived by your audience.

Form/Shape

When it comes to your designs, you also want to think about form and shape. This subtle but effective element that can be used to reinforce the desired reaction from your customers: so, for example, a logo that is all circles and soft edges will inspire a very different reaction from a logo that’s sharp and square.

Designing your brand identity

Your brand identity is made of many elements. Once you’ve figured out the building blocks of your design, it’s time to work with a designer to bring your brand identity to life and translate who you are as a brand into tangible design assets you can use in your marketing. Your brand identity can be expressed in any number of elements. Depending on the nature of your business, one asset or another may be more or less important. For example, a restaurant should put a lot of thought into their menu and physical space. A digital marketing agency, however, needs to focus more on their website and social media pages.

Common elements of brand identity include:

Logo

Your logo design is the cornerstone in your brand identity. When working with your designer, you want to aim for your logo to tick off the following boxes:

• Clearly communicates who you are and what you value as a brand;
• Is visually appealing: simple, clean and uncluttered goes a long way;
• Is classic, not trendy: the last thing you want is for your logo to go out of style in 6 months;
• Plays along with your industry’s standards—and if you veer off, do so deliberately;
• Make a lasting impression on your audience.

Website

Your website is one of the most representative aspects of your brand identity. Especially if you’re running an online business or a digital product, your customers will definitely check your website out before deciding to do business with you. Your website is where your brand identity should come through in full force.

Product packaging

If your product is a physical one, then product packaging is key to attracting the right customers. Whether you’re thinking about the bottle of a cold-brew beverage, or the mail you’ll send to your customers who purchased clothes from your ecommerce business, don’t underestimate the value of good design in improving the experience – and driving both loyalty and repeat purchases. Packaging is an awesome opportunity for your design to shine.

Create a brand style guide

A brand style guide is a must to preserve your brand identity. Once you’ve got your design assets, you want to make sure they’re used in the right way, which is why you’ll definitely want to create a brand style guide. This document—which outlines your design assets, when and how to use them, as well as any design do’s and don’ts for your brand—will ensure that any future design is in line with your brand identity and generates the right perception with your audience.

Why is brand identity so important?

As the embodiment of almost everything your business is and does, a brand identity can inspire customers and increase a sense of loyalty for your brand. Brand identity, therefore, is crucial to your business’s future.

So, if your brand is more than just its logo, how can you replicate what brands like Coca-Cola have done and instill other unique elements into your business’s identity?

Here are six components of a well-developed brand identity, and why it’s so important for you to develop them.

The “Face” of Your Business

For all intents and purposes, your brand’s logo is the “face” of your business. But that face should do more than just look cool or interesting — a logo’s contribution to brand identity is associative, too. It tells the public that [this image] means [the name of your company].

Credibility and Trust

Having a brand identity doesn’t just make your product more memorable; it makes your brand more authoritative in the marketplace. A brand that establishes a face, and maintains that face consistently over time, develops credibility among its competitors and trust among its customers.

Advertising Impressions

A brand identity is a template for everything you would include on an advertisement for your business — whether that ad is in print, online, or a preroll commercial on YouTube. A brand with a face and industry credibility is well prepared to promote itself and make impressions on potential buyers.

Your Company’s Mission

When you create an identity for your brand, you’re giving it something to stand for. That, in turn, gives your company a purpose. We all know companies have mission statements, right? Well, you can’t have one without first giving your brand an identity.

Generating New Customers and Delighting Existing Ones

A brand identity — one with a face, trust, and a mission — attracts people who agree with what your brand has to offer. But once these people become customers, that same brand identity gives them a sense of belonging. A good product generates customers, but a good brand generates advocates.

If you want your business to become a well-known and beloved brand name, it’s going to take some work. The following steps will help you build a brand identity. They are simple steps — implementing them, however, is another story.

Follow a few simple tips and you will be well on your way to maintaining a strong and consistent brand identity.

• Choose a “Voice” 
• Be Consistent
• Know Your Audience and Buyer Persona
• Humanize Your Brand
• Be Original
• Stay Active
• Have a Strong Pre-established Brand