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How to avoid a brand identity crisis.
April 16, 2019
Whether your business is big, small, or just getting off the ground, your brand identity is one of your most valuable marketing assets. It’s the visual language of your company and it shapes the first impression people form of your brand. A successful brand identity speaks to your target audience, helps you reach new clients and builds customer loyalty. However, if your brand identity is dated or unresolved it could cost you your current customers and hinder you from attracting new ones. Making sure your brand identity is on point is one of the best things you can do for your business.
So wait, what is brand identity?
First thing’s first, let’s clarify the difference between your brand and your brand identity.
Your brand is composed of all the intangible things that influence how people think and feel about your company. The relationships you build, the experiences of your clients, and the expectations consumers have about your products or services all make up your brand.
Your brand identity is the visual representation of your company. Your logo, wordmark, typography, colors, and other graphic assets form a system that over time come to represent your brand. Your brand identity influences both how you and your staff feel about your company and how the public perceives you.
A successful brand identity represents your business, resonates with your customers, builds brand loyalty, and helps you achieve your goals. The flip side is also true: if your brand identity feels dated or out of touch with your customers and the current market it could be costly. Your loyal customers may start slipping away and you could have a hard time attracting new ones. Maybe you’re trying to bring your business to the next level but you still look a little unprofessional. To make sure that your brand identity is an asset and not a liability, we recommend conducting a brand identity audit.
Everyone loves a good before-and-after story: Logo redesigns for GroundsKeeper (Ashland, MA), Marine Home Center (Nantucket, MA) and Mount Vernon Company (Boston, MA). Paragraph
Yikes, did you say audit?
The word audit sounds scary, but really it’s just an analysis of how your branding is or isn’t working for you. Together we look at which qualities of your brand identity are supporting your goals and which ones are holding you back. Sometimes we find that a brand refresh is just what you need to update your look and reinvigorate your business. Other times we determine that your current branding just isn't speaking to your target audience and a rebrand is in order. There are even times when we decide that your brand identity is working just fine and maybe it’s your marketing or website that are missing the mark. Should you decide to rebrand your company we can help you plan a strategy to launch your new identity with specific steps to minimize brand confusion.
Keep it simple.
Beyond making sure that the style of your brand identity is appropriate for your business, your logo must work anywhere you choose to apply it. The most memorable and effective logos are simple, flexible, and easy to use across a broad range of applications. To determine if a design will be successful, we ask questions about where it may be used. How does it look as a social media icon? Would it work in black and white? Could it be embroidered on a hat? If it can be scaled big or small, in print or digital, single or multi color, you can feel confident it’s up to the task.
This is the first time we asked: Can it be made out of Play-Doh?
Ready to talk brand identity? We love this stuff, and there’s no charge to chat.