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Indentity Crisis (Branding Isn't Just for Cattle)
Who Needs Branding? Whether you need it or not, you
already have it. If you sell lemonade on your lawn, sitting
in a green booth with yellow lemons painted on it, your branding
is a feeling of home-made refreshment and the colors green
and yellow. If you have a tacky website with blaring colors
then your branding is a feeling of gaudy brashness. The question
is not, "Do you need branding?" but, "What
do you want your branding to be?"
Identity is the image, feeling or thought that consumers
associate with your business. For instance, when you hear
the words Coca Cola you think of red, the refreshing swoosh
that underlines their name, and perhaps their classic slogan
— It's The Real Thing. This identity makes the company
memorable and sets them apart from their competition.
Branding is the process of searing identity into the
minds of consumers so that they remember it, and creating
a sense of loyalty. In effect, when a company is branded they
have created a group of fans that rally behind the banner
— the company identity. The company has built an emotional
rapport between its product or service and its customers or
clients.
A good brand:
- Delivers a message clearly
- Confirms credibility
- Emotionally connects to a target audience
- Motivates buyers
- Creates consumer loyalty
To create effective branding you must first understand the
needs of your customers and prospects. Find out what they
need, what they expect and what they want. Give them what
they think they need, then give them what they hadn't thought
of — those little extra touches they can't find anywhere
else. This is where your credibility, emotional connection
and loyalty will come from.
What does this have to do with identity and branding? Your
identity should convey the basic needs and desires of your
target consumers through an image, feeling or thought. For
instance, Coca Cola understands that their customers want
to quench their thirst and feel refreshed. Notice all the
splashes and water droplets on a Coke can. Red has an exciting
psychological effect that conveys the delivery of refreshment.
The packaging is a promise to deliver what the consumer wants.
When they receive what they want in that first slug, an emotional
connection is made between refreshment and the packaging:
The red and that swoosh/splash that underlines the name Coca
Cola. Next time they're thirsty they will immediately think
of Coke.
Branding Strategies
Branding is the method by which your brand, or identity,
is delivered. Branding strategies can and should be inventive
and unique. For example, if you sell model airplanes and want
to distribute brochures, why not fold your brochures into
paper airplanes?
Your brand makes a promise that you deliver. It will be the
foundation that all of your communications will be built upon.
For branding to occur, your branding strategies must be integrated
into every point of contact with the public:
- Business cards, letterhead, invoices, etc.
- Brochures, flyers, posters, billboards
- All advertisement
- Ballcaps and T-shirts for the company softball team
- Keychains you add to shopping bags
- Your website
Delivery should be as inventive and unique as possible. Brainstorm
with friends to come up with branding strategies that reinforce
your message.
Branding consists of your company name, logo, slogan,
colors and shapes, and the feelings associated with your company.
These elements should be a unique combination, custom-built
to appeal to your target consumers and prospects. Your branding
should convey your company mission and vision both visually
and emotionally.
Construct a Mission Statement
Logos: Illustrating a Company Identity
I hope this article has shown you that you not only can,
but should control your company identity if you want to compete
in today's market. This is not a hype for Genesis Box.
It's a plain fact. If you don't get your identity from me,
do get it from someone else or your customers and prospects
will create their own perception of your identity, good or
bad. It's smart business sense for you to choose how you will
be perceived.
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