Brand
Creation
Brand creation is
about really understanding your business by ascertaining who you are, what you
do, how you do it and, most importantly, why you do it. Creating a brand is
about creating an emotional connection between you and your
customer.
The definition of brand building is to generate
awareness about your business using strategies and campaigns with the goal of
creating a unique and lasting image in the marketplace.
Positive image + standing out =
brand success.
Branding can be broken down into three phases:
1. Brand Strategy
2. Brand Identity
3. Brand Marketing
1. Brand Strategy will map out how you are different, trustworthy,
memorable and likable by your ideal customer. It will convey your purpose,
promises, and how you solve problems for people.
You
can think of brand strategy as the blueprint for how you want the world to see
your business.
Brand strategy is a critical and foundational piece
for building a successful brand. It’s one of the areas that most businesses
overlook because they jump right into the design and marketing.
2. Brand Identity is the way that you convey this to the public
with visuals, messaging, and experience. Your brand strategy will influence how
you present your identity and align it with your purpose for the most impact.
Your elements of brand identity should be applied
across all channels consistently. It’s the way that your business becomes
recognizable. This includes your logo, colors and fonts, website design,
content, advertising, print or packaging, and more.
3. Brand Marketing is the way that businesses or organizations
highlight and bring awareness to products or services by connecting values and
voice to the right audience through strategic communication.
In 2020, the amplification of your brand image can
be done effectively through various digital marketing activities:
·
User
Experience (i.e. your website)
·
SEO &
Content Marketing
·
Social Media
Marketing
·
Email
Marketing
·
Paid Advertising
(PPC)
How
to Build a Brand People Love
1.
Discover the purpose behind your brand.
Every successful brand has a powerful
purpose behind it.
There are four questions you should ask yourself
when defining a brand purpose:
·
Why do you
exist?
·
What differentiates
you?
·
What problem
do you solve?
·
Why should
people care?
You’ll use these ideas to inform the foundation of
your branding, through a tagline, slogans, voice, messaging, stories, visuals
and more.
The Golden Circle concept can help in
identifying the purpose behind anything in business or life, really.
The
3 Parts to The Golden Circle:
·
What – the products or services you offer to your customers
·
How –
the things that differentiate you from the competition
·
Why –
the reason you are passionate and why you exist
2.
Research competitor brands within your industry.
We should never imitate exactly what the
big brands are doing in your industry.
But you should be aware of what they do
well (or where they fail).
The
goal is to differentiate from the competition. Convince a customer to purchase
from you over them!
We’re always thinking about how to make a
brand stand out from what’s out there already. Don’t skip this step in the
brand building process.
Research your main competitors or
benchmark brands. For instance, study how well they have gone about building a
brand name.
For a brand name to be effective, it
needs to be easy for consumers to recognize and remember.
3.
Determine your brand’s target audience.
The foundation for building your brand
is to determine the target audience that
you’ll be focusing on.
When brand building, keep in mind who
exactly you are trying to reach. You’ll tailor your mission and message to meet
their exact needs.
examples.
·
Instead of
“all Moms”, you could narrow down the niche to hone in on “single Moms who work
full-time from home”.
·
“Techy people”
is too broad. But “tech-savvy early adopters who manage a large team” can
narrow the focus in.
·
If you are
targeting “college kids”, there is definitely room to get more specific. An
example could be: “college students studying abroad in Europe during the
summer”.
·
“Anyone who
needs a job” is certainly not a niche target market. However, “retirees looking
to return to the workforce in an executive position” can be!
4.
Establish a brand mission statement.
The mission statement basically defines a
purpose for existing. It will inform every other aspect of your brand building
strategies.
Everything from your logo to your
tagline, voice, message, and personality should reflect that mission.
When people ask you what you do: answer
them with your brand mission statement.
Examples:
Nike
tagline: Just Do It.
Nike’s mission is: “To bring inspiration
and innovation to every athlete in the world“.
5.
Outline the key qualities & benefits your brand offers.
Focus on the qualities and benefits that
make your company branding unique.
Example:
Apple
Apple is obviously
not just another computer company. One of their key qualities is a clean design,
and a key benefit is ease of use.
From unique packaging to their
announcement events, Apple always reminds customers that its products can be
used right out of the box.
6.
Form your unique brand voice.
Your voice is dependent on your company’s
mission, audience, and industry.
It’s how you communicate with your
customers, and how they respond to you.
A brand voice could be:
·
Professional
·
Friendly
·
Service-oriented
·
Authoritative
·
Technical
·
Promotional
·
Conversational
·
Informative
There are endless adjectives and
possibilities that can build a brand voice behind your messaging.
7.
Let your brand personality shine.
Be
consistent with this brand personality across all
points of contact.
It can be as simple as:
·
A
conversational voice in communication (using “I”, and “you”)
·
Sharing
behind-the-scenes content
·
Telling
stories about real experiences
·
Describing
your products/services in a quirky manner
8. Build a brand story and messaging.
When building a brand, tell customers
succinctly who you are.
Use the business voice you have chosen
for your brand.
Your messaging should be intricately
associated with your brand and conveyed consistently.
This part of the brand development
process goes beyond your logo and tagline to define the key aspects of:
·
Who
you are
·
What
you offer
·
Why
people should care
A brand story is an opportunity to
communicate on a human level, making a direct emotional connection with your
consumers.
9.
Create a brand logo & tagline.
The most exciting (and arguably the most
important piece) of the brand building process, is to create a brand logo and
tagline for your company.
This logo will appear on everything that
relates to your business. It will become your identity, calling card, and the
visual recognition of your promise.
10.
Integrate your brand into every aspect of your business.
The brand building process never stops.
Your brand should be visible and
reflected in everything that your customer can see, read, and hear.
Anything tangible–from business cards to
advertisements, to packaging and product–needs the stamp of your logo.
On any digital platform, ensure that your
brand looks the same everywhere. Use your brand style guide to create
consistency with visuals such as color and logo use, fonts, photography, etc.
Your website is the most important tool
for marketing your brand. When you design your website: incorporate your voice,
message, and personality into the content.
Profile pages for social media networks
should be branded visually, and with your chosen voice for engagement.
11.
Stay true to your brand building.
Once you establish a brand voice, use it for every piece of
content you create.
Don’t
constantly change your branding. The inconsistency will confuse your customers,
and make long-term brand building more difficult.
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