Every business has its own individual style. Even if companies work in the same field and set the same tasks, the very peculiarities of their realization will be unique. To make this distinctiveness recognizable, it is necessary to personify it. In other words, it is necessary to create a quasi-personality of an organization or business, which will act as the core of everything that relates to it. Such a quasi-personality is called a brand. What is brand identity in this case? This is all that the brand associates itself with, rejecting everything that has nothing to do with it.
Why Does a Brand Need an Identity?
The urge to create a brand identity is caused by a number of reasons. Conventionally, they can be called the needs of positioning and promotion. Entering the market, the company craves to stand out from the mass of its kind and draw the attention of customers. Whether it’s a new pharmacy, a bakery, a software development company, or an anti-fraud agency, it needs to disidentify from the general generic concept of “Pharmacy” or “Bakery” and personify itself. This process is called branding. But the brand itself without semantic content will be empty. To surround it with many associations that are attractive to the consumer, it is necessary to build a brand identity. To stay competitive in the industry, you must be aware of the latest FMCG trends or trends in any industry that you are associated with.
What Comes Before Developing a Brand Identity?
Before you start focusing the attention of consumers on the distinctive features of the brand, you need to create its concept. This is the first step that precedes identity building. The brand concept is the mission, which will be implemented in the activities of the company. After this mission of the brand is defined, the process of building an identity begins. It consists of the selection of those characteristics that will contribute to the achievement of these goals.
How Can You Define a Brand Identity?
In order to take into account all the necessary distinctive elements when building a brand identity, it is important to determine what belongs to it. In a general sense, brand identity is a set of all those characteristics that distinguish it from many others. They should be fixed in the associative memory of consumers. Among them are the following:
- History of creation and founders
- Mission and values
- The logo and its visual accompaniment
- Slogan and style of language used in a marketing campaign
- Association with the product or service provided
Can You Build a Brand Identity Yourself?
A professional approach is needed in everything, including building a brand. If you have never done this before, you may well get a good result. Or it may be just the opposite: no matter how much effort and resources are invested in creating a brand identity, consumers will lack any coherent idea about it. To understand what marketing moves will work and which will fail, it is essential to try to promote many companies. Then you will clearly see the most effective methods that strongly connect the brand in the perception of consumers with exactly the identity that you want to install.
What is Important to Consider When Forging a Brand Identity
- Don’t neglect to tell the brand’s story. Storytelling is the easiest way to hook the emotional strings of consumers.
- Don’t make the brand faceless. The company should have personalized founders. They don’t need to be brought to the fore. However, if the consumer wants to know about the founders of the company, he should easily find this information.
- Remember that a brand has a voice. This is the tone in which you address consumers. It must be maintained and individualized.
- Expand the presence of the logo and corporate colors. Let them be on the packaging, such as customized tissue paper printed with the logo, on every page of the website, on small souvenirs that you give to loyal consumers.
Brand identity is not a frozen statue. It can evolve and change with the passage of time. However, the core must remain. This is the brand itself, backed by the deeds of its creators and the loyal attitude of strong adherents.
