In many ways, a business’s brand is its most important asset. You can see this in the way that they will so ferociously protect not only their IP but also their brand name from being used in an unauthorized manner. Most companies are so p[orptective over their brand for a number of reasons, but in most cases, it’s to avoid customers from getting ripped off by purchasing a product they believe is from them and to reduce the likelihood of the name they have worked so hard to build up from falling into disrepute.
However, before you can even get to the stage where you might have to worry about unauthorized actors illegally using your brand, you need to create an identity that helps you stand out from your competitors and place your business at the forefront of potential customer’s minds when they need or want what you’re selling.
Key Elements Of Strong Brand Identity
For something that you need to be as easily recognizable and include as few elements as possible, a surprisingly large number of components are involved in the process. These can range from ensuring that you include a local flair to appeal to your target audience to developing a value proposition that successfully differentiates you from your competition. However, even within each aspect, there are further nuances that need to be addressed. For example, regarding the former point about creating a local flair, this must be done in such a way that leaves wiggle room for expansion if required.
For instance, if you’re starting up a coffee shop for the coffee lovers of Melbourne, it might make sense to develop unique branding for Melbourne businesses in this sector, but that keeps the door open to expand nationwide if you choose to scale up. Even with your unique value proposition, you will need to ensure any added value you’re creating is tangible and will actually convince people to choose you over other similar businesses. Simply stating that your coffee (to use the running example) is better than others is not enough, and it might be that crafting a story could be the key to your conundrum.
i. Crafting A Unique Brand Story
All businesses need some kind of story to help set them apart from other enterprises that exist within their sector. How you go about this will heavily depend on you, how you began, and the clientele you want to bring in. This step will take a bit more lateral thinking to get correct, as the story you concoct absolutely must be unique and unfabricated.
Any joint of a lie and you run the risk of getting caught out and having your business punished severely by the very people you are trying to attract. When you lie about your story, you will alienate people who may feel deceived and made a fool of, and they won’t be slow to sever any ties they might once have had with you.
ii. The Role Of Visual Branding
You don’t have to like it, but first impressions make a huge difference, and even though we like to believe we’ve moved beyond it as a civilization, the fact remains that you only have a limited time to really grab someone’s attention and try to keep it.
Visual branding plays a significant role in this regard, especially if you’re operating in a highly saturated market. When you get this step correct, you will be able to communicate your brand identity, mission, values, and overall personality all in a way that is highly appealing to a broad range of consumers (or, at the very least, those you intend to target).
iii. Consistency Across All Brand Touchpoints
One way to make sure you stand head and shoulders above those wanting to eat into your slice of the pie is to maintain consistency across all of your branding materials and marketing channels. Doing so makes you appear professional and in control of your business, as opposed to someone who has pawned off the job to your 15-year-old nephew, who’s a dab hand with Canva.
To get this right, it might be a good idea to work with a professional branding agency that has experience with setting up consistent brands that are memorable for the right reasons. It’s worth noting, though, that once you’ve settled on a color palette, design, font, and so on, changing it can be a nightmare, meaning you need to spend time at this stage to get it right.
Final Words
Your brand might very well end up becoming your most valuable asset and will help you to stand out among a sea of competitors. As long as you take your time and strive for excellence, you ought to give yourself a significant leg up against your competition.
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