What’s branding all about?
The depth of company branding can vary quite a lot depending on company size and the services or products your provide. Below is some useful information to consider when forming your brand.
Company branding involves creating a unique name, symbol and design that gives your business or product an identity and differentiates from other companies out there. An effective brand strategy should give you an edge and let your customers what to expect from your products and services.
Are you a company with 100 employees? Or an individual tradesman? Do you sell high-end premium products or low cost cheap and cheerful products? You need to decide exactly what it is you do and stick with it. You can’t be all things to all people. Planning your brand strategy should be based on who you are, what you offer and what your target audience need you to be.
The foundation of any brand is a logo, use of shapes and colour. A creative website and promotional material are also key and should all incorporate your logo to reinforce your brand.
A brand strategy should be based on how, what, where and to whom you want to target, communicate and deliver you brand message to. Where you advertise, distribute, how you visually and verbally communicate is all part of your brand strategy.
Staying consistent will lead to a strong brand identity, which over time will add value to your company’s products and services. Being a company which people can identify with and trust is key to success. A consistent brand involves the use of fonts, colours, shape, your company logo and imagery; keep these consistent and your brand will develop strength and grow naturally over time.
Defining your brand can be a difficult journey. It’s time consuming, requires a lot of attention and can sometimes feel like you’ve hit a brick wall with it. But this is a natural process and it’s always worth pushing through to build a stronger brand. If you don’t know what your brand stands for then how will your client’s and customers.
Your brand has been created, what next?
Once you’ve created your brand you need to get the word out. Below are a few ideas and simple tips to get started.
Your logo
Use it everywhere; company stationery, promotional material, website, social media and emails.
Your message
Jot down your key messages. What do you want to communicate about your brand. Stay focused on what you’re trying to achieve and keep the messages consistent.
Integration
Your brand should integrate everywhere which includes how you answer the phone, your email signature, your social media profiles and even your personal profiles on social media.
Tagline
Create a tagline that reflects your company brand and captures the essence of what you do. It should be memorable and meaningful. A tagline doesn’t have to appear all over everything, it’s good to use a tagline in carefully selected ways to reinforce your brand.
Consistency
Consistency is key. Keep your brand logo, colours, look and feel the same throughout. It’s sometimes too easy to stray and try to get fancy. You really don’t need too, keep to your guidelines and stay consistent. If you do this your brand will develop, grow and flourish naturally inline with your company.
