Brand identity is what you are known for, how your customers recognise you and ultimately pass your name onto more potential customers. It is the face of your company. The most successful brand designs have fuelled the most successful companies in the world. Think about all the images, events and phrases associated with Coca-Cola, for example. There are so many reasons that you need to establish a high-quality brand image; it installs credibility, becomes a self-perpetuating advertising opportunity, and effectively targets a key audience, but it’s important to not leave anything behind, including your offline, physical mediums such as product packaging, signage and everything from mailing bags to printed cotton bags. These are all platforms for building a brand, here’s how to use them to set yourself apart.
Target Your Audience
Are you the developer of a super niche product or have a USP that would be particularly appealing to an audience? Find a way to incorporate this into the design of your brand. For example, do you want to emphasise the sustainability ethos of your brand or that all goods are made from completely recycled materials? Choose a background colour, like a hemp colour or texture, that really augments this. Colours, fonts and styles all have connotations and associations, take advantage of these to align yourselves with your customer’s attitudes and make sure that you appeal to them.
Claim Your Story
Every business has grown or taken their own unique journey. This will never be the same as any other company, which makes you unique. You can splash this information on your billboards, at pop-up shops and on the printed bags you provide customers, simply by showing a humanised aspect to your company and highlighting your personality. Claiming your story like this is effective for business and works particularly well with snappy, memorable lines that present a complex concept in a simple way. It also builds credibility and authenticity for your business, that can encourage conversions.
Think About Your Price Points
This will come into targeting an audience again, but a design adds value to your product. If you have a conceptual or experience-based business plan, then it can be harder to build trust and convince a customer to hand over money for something intangible. Effective branding can change this.
Firstly, keep things consistent to make sure you are recognisable. An everchanging look makes you look unstable and risky. In turn, using premium materials (like a fabric bag and extra layers of packaging), deluxe colours and high-quality textures makes your brand feel like value for money, adding to client experience, even if you’re targeting the higher end of the market. If you are a fun and funky business, consider bright and contrasting colours and a bespoke font or logo.
Analyse Other Players In The Market – And Do Something Different
Think about the technology market, almost every brand uses silver, grey and blue and a minimalist design or logo. This is because it promotes an efficient, futuristic and sleek design that you can trust. However, the effect of that design is starting to fade, simply because it’s overdone. People are always looking for something new in the market and simply having a unique brand design can make them look into you – and show you off with branded items in the future!
