“Branding is the process of connecting good strategy with good creativity.”
MARTY NEUMEIER
Developing a brand is more than just designing a nice logo, or picking out what colors might work for your company. A brand is more than an icon, it should be a well-thought-out identity that speaks for itself. It makes an impression. It has depth and reason.
So, how do you develop a new brand?
1. Mission Statement
The mission statement is the core of your brand, and business. It acts as a guiding light for marketing decisions moving forward, as well as a chance to spotlight your unique position to consumers.
An example of a simple, yet inspiring mission statement is Sony.
2. Competitor Research
A necessary step in any marketing strategy, competitor research will help to understand what the standards are in the field you are breaking into. It can also give clues about what to avoid, or how to set your business apart from the crowd.
Begin this process by identifying any competitors, either locally or nationally. Then, gather and analyze any information you can discover. This can be anything from their online presence to how they interact with their audience. Make sure to keep track of your findings. Comparing between multiple competitors, you might be able to find important pieces of information, such as industry trends, shortfallings, and customer wishes.
3. Brand Personality
This is where the feel of your brand comes in. To establish a personality, take into consideration the tone you’d like to impart on consumers. Do you want your business to be seen as playful? Sophisticated? Rugged? This will determine a number of things, such as visual designs, marketing campaigns, wording, social media usage, and more.
A great example of a strong brand personality is Google.
When a company is known for knowing, well, everything, it’s easy to assume the educator role. With minimal simplicity and playful marks of color, their branding (and user experience) gives the impression of a helping hand, not an overbearing index of knowledge.
4. Develop Visual Collateral
The visual identity is what immediately comes to mind when we think of branding. Nike’s swoosh, Starbucks’ mermaid, Twitter’s bird, all of these are strong visual identities. This is the fun part of brand development: names, logos, taglines, color schemes. All of this is designed with the brand’s personality in mind, and, if you’re lucky enough to work with a great marketing agency, will leave a lasting impression on consumers.
5. Execution and Marketing
Once you finally have your brand fully fleshed out and ready to roll, it’s time to actually show it to your consumers. Even if you have the greatest branding of all time, it stands for nothing unless your audience actually sees it. Show off your new brand by:
- Creating or updating your website
- Refreshing all social media channels
- Redesigning your packaging
- Advertising
Keep in mind that even the most sleek, ingenious branding can only take your company so far. Branding works the best when it represents a solid organization. Now that you’re ready to get serious about what your company stands for, let us help.