What is branding?
Branding is commonly misunderstood and interpreted as just a visual element of a business. For many branding experts, the visual identity (name, logo, design, packaging etc.) is still just as important, but the concept of branding has evolved enormously over the years and has a whole range of new meanings. Branding is no longer just swanky designs that distinguish you from competitors, it is all about target audiences, tone, messaging, vision, values and purpose.
It can be hard to give a concrete definition of branding, because it is a somewhat intangible concept. Branding is all about identifying, creating and managing the assets and actions of a business. All of these things work to shape the perception of a brand in the stakeholders’ mind.
Branding is an ongoing process – if consumers and markets are constantly evolving, so must your brand! This is why you need to check in on your brand regularly, to be sure it is up to speed with current trends and societal norms.
When completing a branding exercise, many people overlook the importance of stakeholders… When really, they are the most important part! Once you have identified who your stakeholders are, you must work to create/manage your brand assets in a way that appeals to them. Doing this right will help to drastically increase your brand perception and reputation!
Why is branding so important?
Trust and credibility
Trust should never be underestimated, because it can be the catalyst between intent (considering buying) and action (making the purchase). Would you invest a large sum of money in a brand you’ve never heard of before, if it had outdated graphic design and mismatched messaging? As mentioned above, branding isn’t just about visual design, but it can make a massive difference on first impressions and creating credibility in the consumers’ eye.
The consumers of today have much higher expectations of the brands they choose, and their overall level of trust depends on a number of different factors, such as first impressions, word of mouth, whether the product works, brand mission and so much more.
Creating a strong brand and working on trust and credibility will certainly pay off in the future, considering that when a consumer has high brand trust, they are over 50% more likely to try new products, compared to 25% with low brand trust.
Generating new customers
Typically, strong brands have less trouble getting referral business. When there is a positive impression amongst your customers, they are more likely to do business with you, thanks to your familiarity and dependability. Once your brand is well established, word of mouth will become your very own free advertising. Think of all the times you have talked with a friend about a great brand you have encountered… what an amazing café you went to, how great quality your jeans are, which estate agent you used, which garage you bought a car from.
Often, the reputation of a brand precedes any marketing or advertising done! This may be either positive or negative, but either way when a potential customer comes into contact with your brand, they will already have an association in their mind, which makes them more or less likely to purchase from your brand instead of the competition.
Employee satisfaction
When we talk about stakeholders in branding, we aren’t just talking about consumers… A stakeholder could be anyone including clients, employees, business partners, shareholders and practically anyone who is involved with your business and its processes.
A particularly important group of stakeholders are your employees. Your brand shouldn’t just be working to impress potential consumers, it should be doing the same for your internal team. Your employees act as brand ambassadors, as they are your first line of communication to the outside world. Therefore, it is important that they believe in your mission and values.
When an employee works for a strong brand and truly stands behind it, they will be more satisfied with their job and have more pride in what they do. When an employee finds their job fulfilling, this will likely translate into better work ethic, communication, teamwork and leadership. Not to mention development of better products and services.
On the flip side of engaging employees is attracting new talent. Today’s job market is competitive, so businesses need to work hard to attract the best employees possible for growth and development of the company. Having a strong brand will subconsciously entice prospective applicants with an exciting story about what your business does, how interesting the work is and how it has an impact on other people’s lives.
Financial value
At the end of the day, what we are really looking for is financial value. You want to see a return on investment from all the money you have put into creating a powerful brand – and you will!
With customers who trust in your brand, strong business goals and motivated employees you are guaranteed to see an increase in productivity, growth, sales and revenue.
Where can you go wrong with branding?
Forgetting your target audience
It’s easy enough to create an incredible brand with sleek, creative designs and a strong brand voice. However, if your branding doesn’t resonate with your target audience, it is all worthless! The whole point of undertaking a branding exercise is to increase brand awareness and perception for your target audience/stakeholders. So, we recommend doing extensive buyer persona research before even starting to think about your tone, messaging and visual design elements.
A promise to your customers
A strong brand tells your customers what to expect, and they will hold you to it. For example, if you build a brand around being innovative but are one step behind the competition, expect to see declining sales and revenue. You have broken a promise that you made to your consumers and therefore their trust and brand perception will take a hit.
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Whilst working with a graphic design agency might not feel like a priority right now, you will be sure to see return on investment. If you are thinking about all new branding for your start-up, or rebranding an established business, please get in touch! We would be really happy to discuss what may work for you and your business. Email at [email protected] or call us on 01993 835 117.
What is the difference between Branding and Visual Identity?
A brand is made up of many different elements these include things like the name of the brand, the tone of voice used through written and spoken word, the individuals that represent the brand, the message and values that are being delivered and so on. Visual Identity is just one of these many different elements that go towards creating a strong brand.
How do I build a brand?
To build a strong brand that resonates with your audience, firstly you need to determine who your main user groups are, think about their interests, gender, age, what resonates with them, what is important to them. Once you have a clear understanding of your main audience personas you can then begin to build a brand around those people. There is no quick solution as a brand is something that has to be built and all the individual elements need to mesh together and become consistent with one another.
Where do I start with building a brand?
When building a brand, it is important to start with determining who your target audience is by creating 3-5 personas. You need to understand this before doing anything as this will strongly affect the way in which your brand is built. Its always tempting to build a brand based on your own personal preferences and that can be okay if you fit into one of your persona categories, but also remember the brand is not to be catered around you and ideally needs to be relatable to your audience.
