A strong brand identity is a must in an age of fierce competition. And it doesn’t matter whether your company is big or small and whether you operate locally or globally. If you lack brand identity, your products have little chance of being noticed.
Read this article to find out how to create a powerful brand to help you grow your business. Whether you started your company a week ago or ten years ago, the following tips will be helpful for you.
Focus on your goals and values.
The first step you should take is to answer the following question:
- Why did you start your company?
- What is the primary goal of your company?
- What values does your company promote?
Money is not the only thing that matters, right? Define the ways your company can contribute to society. Think about how your products can change the world for the better.
“Brand identity at its basic level is all about the perception that people have of the brand,” says Damien Calhoun, a branding expert from TopWritersReview. “This perception is based on the brand’s appearance and messaging, among other things.”
If you need inspiration to define your company’s goals and values, look at the vision statements of famous brands.
- Nestle aims “to enhance the quality of consumers’ lives every day, everywhere by offering tastier and healthier food and beverage choices and encouraging a healthy lifestyle.”
- Tesla aims “to drive the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”
- Reebok’s goal is “to provide each and every athlete with the opportunity, the products, and the inspiration to achieve what they are capable of.”
- Volvo’s goal is “to reduce the number of people that die or are seriously injured in road traffic accidents to zero.”
Create marketing personas
Creating a solid brand identity is impossible if you have a vague idea of who your customers are. So, the next step is to define and analyze your target audience in detail.
It means that you should focus not only on demographics (e.g., age, marital status, ethnicity, location) but also on the psychographic parameters of your target audience. You should find out your customers’ preferences, attitudes, and beliefs.
Consider an example explaining how knowing your marketing persona can strengthen your brand.
Imagine that you sell organic superfoods. Your products are popular among 21-35-year-old women who belong to the middle class and live in medium-sized and big cities. Besides the demographics, you also know that more than half of your customers practice yoga and meditation.
If you want to create a brand logo that perfectly appeals to the target audience, you should use symbols associated with yoga. For instance, you can use a lotus flower as the element of your logo design to make your customers tick.
Screenshot source: Placeit
Design a logo
Every well-known brand has a catchy logo. And if you do not have a logo or your current logo design does not work well, you should invest your efforts in new logo design creation. And the first step you should take is to answer the following questions:
- What style does appeal to your target audience the most: minimalist, sophisticated, rustic, etc.?
- What type of logo design matches your company the best: a wordmark, a letter mark, an abstract symbol, an emblem, etc.?
- How & where will you use your logo design: on your website, social media, printed media, T-shirts and mugs, etc.?
- What shapes do you want to use: sharp and angular or circular?
Screenshot source: https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/projects/max_808/59b8d285506659.Y3JvcCwzMjYwLDI1NTAsMTYsMA.jpg
It’s highly recommended to design two or three logo versions and then pick the most suitable option. You can ask the opinion of your team. Or, you can run a poll on social media to know the idea of your followers.
Choose the right color palette.
Once your sketch is ready, you must decide what color scheme to use. You should pick:
- One or two primary colors
- From three to five complementary colors
- One or two accent colors
You should choose additional colors even if you want to use a one-color or two-color logo. Also, You should set a specific color palette.
Why it’s so important? Because logos do not exist in a vacuum. Symbols should match the color pallet of the website, social media profiles, and other brand identity elements.
Take a look at Dunkin’s logo. The primary colors of this brand are orange and pink. But the company also uses three complementary colors: brown, white, and black to maintain brand consistency.
Screenshot source: Dunkin donuts
If you do not know what colors to choose, here is a short color guide for you:
- The green color is associated with healthiness, eco-friendliness, freshness, and calmness. It works well for organic and vegetarian brands, as well as for financial companies.
- The red color is associated with confidence, energy, and intensity. This color increases heart rate and appetite and creates a sense of urgency.
- The yellow color is all about happiness, friendliness, and warmth. This color suits you if you position your company as cheerful and friendly.
- The orange color is associated with excitement, joy, and creativity. It activates brain activity and inspires consumers to take action.
- Pink is associated with femininity and sweet taste. It works well for brands that target young women or people who like sweets.
- The black color is all about elegance and style. It evokes a feeling of sophistication and exclusiveness.
- The blue color is associated with stability and peacefulness. It works well for companies of any kind: from IT startups and banks to automotive and electronics brands.
Analyze the logos of your competitors.
Another important thing you should do is compare your brand logo with your competitors’ logos. Knowing what shapes and colors other companies use to succeed in the market would be best. Also, you should know what design elements you should avoid.
Let’s imagine that your company sells organic vegan food. If you look at the companies in your industry, you will notice that most of them use a green, circular-shaped wordmark (or emblem) logos.
Naturally, all these logos appeal to the target audience. But the problem is that they look alike. And if you create something similar, your customers cannot distinguish your brand from other brands. So if you want your company to stand out, you should think out of the box and try to create something new.
Wrapping it up
In the modern world, the importance of a powerful brand identity is hard to overestimate. So you should invest your time and effort in creating high-quality visual elements of brand identity.
Feel free to apply the tips given. Create a strong brand identity to take your company to the next level.
If you need any help with your brand identity, contact us today!
