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How your business is perceived is everything, and you influence the perception you want your customers to have through the brand identity you build.
What is branding?
Let’s begin with a quick explanation about what branding is. Let’s take bottled water as an example.
Question: How can different companies who sell the same product convince people to purchase their bottled water instead of a bottle from one of their competitors?
Answer: By creating a brand.
“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association).
So, what exactly is a brand identity?
“Its what turns your company from a soulless idea into a living, breathing entity, and it should be THE focus of your branding efforts”.
Your brand identity is how you want to be perceived by customers. It includes:
- Business name
- Logo design
- The colours, shapes and graphics you use
- Your ‘tone of voice’ (the type of language you use)
A successful brand identity translates into a positive brand image, which is the result of the above efforts!
You might think your brand is the dog’s bollocks but your customers might think it’s more dog poop!
The strongest brand identities are instantly recognizable like Coca Cola, Apple, Nike and Adidas.
Brand Identity vs Brand Image
We often see these two terms used interchangeably but there are key differences.
Brand Identity is how you want your customers to perceive your product or service.
Brand Image is your customers perception of your product or service
So many factors combine to create a brand image – some of which you have no control over. This increases the importance of the factors within your control, the strategic choices you make regarding your brand and marketing efforts.
Bring your business to life!
Before you can create a strong brand identity that will connect with your customers , you need to understand THE WHO (who you are and who your ideal customer is) and THE HOW (how you are going to bring your brand to life.
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Basically, it has three key elements:
- A personality
- A voice
- A face
If you want people to buy your products or services (and not your competitors!) you need to create an emotional experience that your target market wants to be a part of. Human emotion is the key to brand success and you can achieve this by brand storytelling
Benefits of having a strong brand identity
The are several well known benefits associated with a strong brand identity that all businesses can enjoy:
You can charge more
If you look the part you can charge more! For smaller businesses, it positions you in the mind of your customer as providing quality worth paying more for. If you want to attract more customers prepared to spend more money, nailing your branding is crucial!
Perception of premium quality
Although there may not be that much difference between what you offer and what your competitors offer, if you have a stronger brand identity then in the customer’s mind you’re positioned as better quality. So, if your brand looks higher end than your competitors they will think your product or services are better!
Recognition and loyalty
Customers are much more likely to remember your business if your brand is memorable! It’s important to choose a strong brand name and have a professional looking logo to stand out from your competitors.
A solid brand identity helps to build customer loyalty across your business and customers are more likely to recommend you to others if they have a positive vibe about your brand.
Builds trust
You are more likely to be seen as more experienced, reliable and trustworthy than a poorly branded business.
Furthermore, a professionally developed brand identity also opens more doors as it positions your business to work with bigger companies.
Helps you stand out from the crowd!
It allows you to stand out in a crowded marketplace and allow you charge a premium price for your products or services.
If you are a small business, you can fight off bigger competitors by having a strong brand identity.
The strongest voice you can give your product or service is a well-defined and consistently communicated brand identity.
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