A Guide to Building a Strong Brand Identity for Your Business
How to Create a Brand Identity for Your Business
Whether it’s creating a brand identity for small businesses or developing one for large corporations, a brand identity is one of the most important elements a business must have. Without a solid identity as the backbone of your marketing strategy, you’ll find it difficult to stand out amid a sea of competitors. But to properly develop an identity that’s unabashedly and uniquely yours, it’s important to first understand what a brand identity is, as well as its key advantages to your business.
What is a brand identity?
Investopedia defines brand identity as the visual factors that make a brand recognisable to customers, such as the name, logo, colour scheme, etc. This is different from a brand image, which is the result of efforts to establish what your brand looks like visually.
You can tell if a brand identity initiative is successful if a brand has been etched in the brains of its target consumers. For example, most people would know where “I’m lovin’ it” comes from! The stronger your brand identity is, the stronger its staying power is in the minds of the people who matter – the customers.
Why is a brand identity important?
Aside from recall and longevity, a brand identity is a must for businesses everywhere – the main reason why it’s needed is its ability to make you stand out above your competitors and establish who your business is.
Imagine, with so many competitors in the market, it’s so easy to get caught up in the tide. Will you sink or will you swim? A good brand identity ensures that you float, and helps make sure that when an average person looks at your brand, they’ll be able to identify you and be familiar with how your brand looks, sounds, and feels.
Beyond that, better recall of your brand also means higher exposure and a higher likelihood that those who remember you will become loyal customers. This then leads to a better return on investment and profit. So for you to get your investment back tenfold, a successfully executed brand identity campaign is a must.
How to create a brand identity effectively?
Now that you know what a brand identity is and its importance, here are some pointers to remember when designing a business identity for your brand:
Know your brand inside and out
The very first step in developing your brand identity is defining your business and knowing it from the inside and out. During this stage, it’s crucial that you reflect on your brand and answer different probing questions to help shape its identity. Questions pertaining your brand name, your products and services, your mission, your vision, and your corporate values can help in narrowing down the right identity for your brand that will help set you apart from the rest.
Identify who your audience is
Once you know who you are, the next step is identifying who you’re trying to appeal to. This will greatly inform your branding and marketing strategies. You’ll want to shape your identity in a way that appeals to your market; for example, the brand identity of a luxury jewellery company should embody a sense of opulence and prestige, as that’s what their target audience responds to. By narrowing down your audience, you’ll also narrow down your identity into something less generic but more distinct.
Craft branding elements that fit your identity
Now that you’ve determined who your brand is and who it appeals to, the branding elements you create should correspond to that. Whether it be your brand name, your logo, your colour palette or your tone of voice, they must all come together to represent both who you are and what your market responds to the most. Make sure you brainstorm and workshop different logos, brand names, and slogans until you come up with something that is uniquely yours.
Build a brand identity guide
As you use your branding elements in various collaterals, it’s essential to put together brand guidelines for your team and other creatives to refer to when creating content. The importance of a brand identity guide for your business serves as a reference for all the do’s and don’ts of your branding. In case you forget what font or the exact Pantone you have to use, your brand guidelines are there to put you back on track. Having this also helps keep everything you do consistent for better brand impact and recall.
Work with a branding company for your business identity design
If it all becomes too overwhelming for you to handle, let the experts do all the work instead. Working with a branding agency like ARTHAOS can lift the load of branding duties so you can focus more on your actual work. You don’t have to worry about leaving your brand in our hands; from start to finish, we’ll be there to conceptualise, execute, and assess your whole brand identity, implementing improvements as we go to ensure the long-term success of your brand.
Learn how to create a brand identity that’ll make a powerful and long-lasting impression with ARTHAOS! Our team of passionate creatives are driven to give life to your brand through various branding initiatives. Let’s have a chat and discover your brand identity together!
