Create a Strong Brand in 5 Simple Steps

Have you created a strong brand that is easily recognizable by your potential customers?  Are you consistent with your brand in all of your marketing materials including your logo, website, business cards, flyers, social media posts and advertisements?  Customers perceive company brands as a personality.  We must make sure our brand is communicating clearly who we are, because irregular branding behavior can become extremely confusing to consumers.

Danger of  Brand Confusion

Brand confusion is one of the top reasons marketing campaigns, and ultimately brands themselves, fail. Your brand is supposed to be a reflection of your company which accurately informs customers about your products or services. When a brand doesn’t do that across every channel, customers are unable to effectively learn about your company.

Companies with a Strong Brand

McDonaldsThink about some of the most successful brands in the world. McDonald’s has consistent tone and aesthetics across all of its marketing efforts. The infamous yellow and red theme is used in the restaurants themselves, marketing materials, and even on the bags in which food is served. Their casual and fun tone of voice can be seen in their slogans and social media posts and even on their commercials. Though their ad campaigns change (think “Did Somebody Say McDonald’s?” and “I’m Lovin’ It), they’re still consistent with the brand’s personality.

Target is another great example of strong company branding.  Their red and white color scheme and logo immediately get your attention.  You can typically recognize a Target commercial in the first 10 seconds.  Target’s marketing team has done an incredible job of developing a strong and readily recognizable brand.

Creating Consistency In Your Brand Identity

Your brand must be consistent and clearly visible in all aspects of your marketing including your logo, website, commercials, radio advertisements, printed materials and merchandise. It should be cohesive with colors, fonts, graphics and voice.  Many successful companies have gone so far as to publish entire brand manuals that layout every aspect to ensure brand consistency across the board.

When creating or improving your brand consider the following 5 tips:

1. Personality: When developing a brand, you need to consider the personality of your company in every move you make. How do you want your brand portrayed, and how do you want customers to feel?  Start by picking out three or four adjectives that describe what you want to communicate about who you are to your customers.  Some examples would be: trustworthy, excellent, sincere, relatable, modern, and inventive.  Then make sure all your marketing efforts effectively communicate these concepts.

2. Logo: Use the SAME logo on all marketing channels.  Your logo must be easily recognizable.  When companies have multiple variations of their logo it is confusing for customers.  When you think about companies like Nike and Apple their logos immediately come to your mind.  You want customers to have the same experience with your logo and brand.

3. Colors: Choose the color scheme you want associated with your brand.  Take into consideration that colors convey emotion, and select colors that are in line with your company’s personality.  It is also imperative that you know the exact hexadecimal of your colors so that all of your marketing materials match.  This predetermined color scheme should be used for your logo, website, and all printed materials.  It is also a good idea to use this color scheme on your social media posts to further enforce your brand.

4. Font: Select a type face to associate with your brand.  There are hundreds of free fonts to choose from.  Some are professional, some are elegant, and some are even whimsical.  Choose a font that communicates who you are, and stick with it throughout your marketing materials.

5. Templates: Use templates and branded stationary for email and written communications.  All communications coming from your business should have a similar style and should include branding elements such as your logo, address, phone number, and company slogan.  To achieve this, make sure all of your employees have access to email templates and branded stationary.

Hire a Branding Professional

We would love the opportunity to assist your business.  Whether you need to develop a personality of your own or need to create consistency in your brand we can help you.  We specialize in designing logos, business cards and websites employing the above design principles.  We also design branded stationary and all different varieties of print materials.  Give us a call today at 939-0493 to talk about how we can help you further refine your company brand.