Every Brand Has Certain Visual Elements
Every brand has certain visual elements that, together, create a brand identity which sets it apart from other brands. This identity is crucial in enabling consumers to recognize the brand, identify it, and distinguish it from other brands. Though it is a major part of the brand identity, the brand logo alone does not define the brand identity. It includes much more – it defines the intent that drives the branding and cultivates a distinct image in the mind of the consumer to enhance its emotional appeal as well as loyalty. It reflects the promise that the brand holds for its customers, giving them the confidence of trusting the brand.
Brand image helps to alter consumer behavior, and a positive brand image is essential to any company’s sales and marketing efforts. It is a means to gain an advantage over other competitive brands selling similar products.
It is a known fact that people prefer buying new products from brands they trust. 59% of people prefer to use new products of trusted brands, and 81% of consumers buy from brands they trust. Brand identity goes a long way into developing that bond of trust.
However, building a brand image is a tricky job. One has to understand the branding and the products to create a brand identity that complements the brand and its product while also resonating with consumers in a way that inspires confidence and builds trust.
This post is a comprehensive guide to building brand identity. Herein, we will discuss all you need to know about brand identity and how to build a brand identity that will endear it to consumers.
This post will cover the following topics:
- What is brand identity?
- Why is brand identity important for organizations?
- Brand strategy and brand identity
- Factors to consider when building brand identity
- Elements of brand identity
- Creating brand identity: The process
What Is Brand Identity?
Brand identity is everything that one associates with the brand, which includes sensory elements as well as emotional responses. Thus, color, music, logo, tagline all go on to create the brand identity in conjunction with all that the organization does - its mission, values, promise, etc.
It encompasses all the qualities that a consumer may identify with and respond to. We can, thus, personify a brand and say that brand identity is the personality that a brand projects.
Brand identity is closely related to your organization, its products, and services. It encompasses all that your organization or brand wants to communicate to its audience, the value it endorses, and the experience that you wish the consumers to have when using your products or services.
Source: Intel's brand identity upgrade shows us its unique brand identity elements.
The values that a brand wishes to uphold or endorse are conveyed through its branding and marketing strategies. These strategies are aimed at creating emotional as well as functional associations with the brand. These associations are aimed not so much toward inducing the desire to buy, but rather, creating familiarity and distinguishing features that help differentiate the brand from others.
In brief: Brand identity is the image you wish to convey to your consumers and a promise to them for a certain kind of experience.
Now that we know what brand identity is, the next logical question is why it is important for any organization.
Why Is Brand Identity Important for Organizations?
It is a well-known fact that a strong and recognizable brand is an essential part of any successful business. Having a brand identity is part of that exercise, helping the brand create associations with its consumers. It conveys the organization’s personality to its consumers. It assists in delivering a consistent message and also in differentiating the brand from competitors. It builds awareness and promotes brand loyalty, which is the ultimate goal of any branding activity.
Let us take a comprehensive look at the benefits an organization can derive from its brand identity.
Showcases Brand Mission and Brand Value
Brand identity plays a major part in promoting brand mission and brand value. It is a visual statement of the message you wish to convey to your audience. It helps to create an image that the business is established and hence, reliable and trustworthy. This perception may help to enhance the value of your brand so much so that your consumers are prepared to pay more for your product.
A good example of how brand identity alters perception and value is Apple. People wait for the release of the next iPhone or iPad and are willing to pay much more for its products than the competitors.
Source: This product demo video for the AirPods Max subtly describes Apple's mission and vision, and how that has led to innovations in the AirPods Max.
The strong brand identity creates this anticipation and perceived value over and above the intrinsic value of the actual product.
Positions the Brand and Its Products Uniquely Among Competitors
One of the most important reasons to invest in brand identity is to create a differentiation between your products and those of your competitors. A strong brand identity assists in making your products stand out from the rest of the competition. It creates a perceived value of the products associated with the brand and encourages consumers to purchase or associate with it.
Brand Identity Augments the Value Proposition of the Product
Brand identity is a representation of the brand value and trust consumers have in the brand. It conveys your organization’s goals and values, showing them a humane side of the business. This often helps create long-term relationships with people who share the same values and aims.
Creating a unique brand identity shows that you mean business and are proud of what you do. This generates confidence in the consumers to take a chance on you as they believe that you will deliver on your promise.
Creates a Unique Identity for the Brand, Making It More Recognizable and Memorable
Having a strong brand identity conveys a sense of uniformity, cohesiveness, and consistency. It reiterates the brand’s visual cues by constantly presenting the consumers with a uniform visual experience.
Source: Red Bull's brand image of supporting various sporting events and teams adds on to its brand equity, and its iconic brand identity is prominently displayed in all collaterals.
When consumers see the same visual cues over and over again, they start to recognize and remember the brand. The more they remember the brand, the more the audience will engage with it and form an opinion of it.
This, in turn, helps with the overall branding, marketing, and sales efforts. Having similar visual, audio, and branding cues across channels provides the foundation for a harmonious and distinct brand experience that cannot be replicated by anyone else.
Builds Brand Equity
Creating a memorable, easily identifiable product that promises reliability and is better than the rest is what brand equity is all about. Having a strong brand identity enhances the brand equity of a product, making it more desirable than other similar products.
Taking our example from before, Apple is a perfect example of what brand identity and equity can do to a product. We can thus conclude that creating a brand identity adds intrinsic value and a unique proposition to a product. This not only makes the product more desirable but also enhances its value.
Brand Strategy and Brand Identity
How people perceive your brand and what they associate with it is a complex process. It requires a comprehensive policy and careful planning to cultivate and cannot be left to chance. It requires a dedicated strategy, and the brand identity plays a major part in shaping that strategy. It is brand identity that defines the goals the brand strategy needs to achieve.
Brand strategy is the plan that describes the ways in which the company’s brands will be built, shaped, and presented to the consumers. Without a strategy, the branding activities and brand identity are left to factors of uncertainty, which do not always bode well for a brand.
A brand strategy helps direct all branding activity towards the values and culture that the company wishes to identify with. It is a concentrated effort by an organization to openly promote its values, culture, vision, and goals to the public. It is done in a manner that the consumers know and assimilate this information and associate it with the brand.
The brand identity disseminates this information pertaining to the business strategy, culture, vision, and values in such a way that it influences the public perception of the brand, which eventually assists in the sales and marketing efforts. It was discovered that 87% of people will purchase a product from a brand only because they identified with the values it represented.
Tesla is a great example of a successful brand strategy. The luxury car manufacturer has concentrated its branding strategy on its strength of eco-friendly, electric, long-range, luxury cars. It has driven its branding strategy around these distinctions from its competitors – which are mostly petrol/diesel driven or hybrid luxury cars.
Aligning Stakeholders with Brand Strategy
Brand strategy cannot ignore any of the stakeholders – be it the consumers, associates, employees, vendors, buyers, or media. It needs to resonate with all stakeholders to be effective. Each one should be able to connect emotionally with your brand. Only when people are passionate about something or feel an emotional connection to it will they be willing to not just support it but also advocate for it.
Inability to recognize the contribution of all stakeholders can often have disastrous consequences. Having a brand identity that showcases and resonates with the brand’s ideals and portrays them effectively will create a better brand image in the minds of the consumers. It fosters brand trust and enhances brand equity. The best way to achieve this is by aligning the customer experience to maximize satisfaction and ensuring effective brand identity distribution across all touchpoints.
Brand Identity and Brand Image
While to many, brand image and brand identity may seem the same, they are different concepts, and each plays an important part in the success of a brand. Let’s understand the fundamental difference between the two concepts before we proceed.
Brand Identity vs. Brand Image
The two concepts are interrelated yet fundamentally different. While brand identity relates to all the visual elements created to make the brand stand out, brand image is the emotional connection that consumers have with the brand.
Brand identity consists of the colors, shapes, logo, typography, images, styles, symbols, slogans, etc., all of which combine to create a unique identity for your brand, making it stand apart from competitors. Brand identity reflects the message you wish to convey to your audience through visual communication. It demands consistency across all media, as it is the first impression consumers get of the brand and its products. The brand identity should align toward a strong impression for instant recall and concrete brand positioning.
Brand image, on the other hand, pertains to how your audience perceives the brand and how they feel about it. It is an emotional response to the brand identity and the messages it conveys. Brand image takes time to build, requiring interaction between the consumer and the brand, as well as the experiences consumers take away from those interactions. Creating a positive, optimistic, and powerful brand image is essential for consumer confidence and enhances sales. It also encourages brand loyalty and advocacy.
Brand identity influences brand image. The values, culture, and messages conveyed through brand identity help shape the brand’s image. Often, rebranding and changing brand identity can change brand image. A great example of changing brand identity to influence brand image would be Dunkin' Donuts, which dropped "Donuts" from its name and logo to focus on a broader product range, aiming to connect with a younger generation of consumers.
Essentials of Building an Effective Brand Identity
Irrespective of the products that a brand may represent, there are certain elements that must be considered when creating a brand identity. Paying attention to these factors can make the difference between becoming a standout brand and one that gets lost in the noise. The crux lies in understanding the essentials of creating an identity that goes beyond mere aesthetics.
What is required is to create a bold, identifiable, relevant, and memorable brand that is recognizable, consistent, and clearly communicates the company’s message and ethos. It should have continuing value, can be used across media, and work well in both monochrome and multicolor formats.
The factors that can assist in creating an identity that conforms to the above-mentioned functions include:
Vision
The best brands are inspired by a vision. This represents an innovation and imagination that goes beyond the ordinary. It is the spirit of enterprise, discovering and delivering that which was not thought before or was believed to be impossible.
Example: The three spokes in the Mercedes-Benz logo represent domination over land, sea, and air. It represents futuristic thinking which inspires the products, brand, and the company. It takes the vision of just one strategic thinker to create a legend. They assimilate business-critical information and anticipate future demands and needs to create a brand that resonates with the audience.
Meaning
The most successful brands represent something – an idea, an ideal, a certain value or values, or a message that helps distinguish them from others. By symbolizing a brand, we ascribe meaning to them.
Example: The Olympic Rings denote the merging of all five continents of the world, with the five colors representing all the flags of the world. When people begin to understand these meanings, they create an emotional bond that is memorable and recognizable. The meaning of a brand cannot always be understood immediately – it takes time to develop.
Authenticity and Coherence
Authenticity is knowing who you are, what you can do, and adhering to it. Companies that make promises they can deliver on are perceived as authentic. A brand that lives up to its promise of mission, values, and culture is seen as authentic.
Example: The Toyota logo represents the unification of their customers' hearts with the hearts of their machines. Their customer experience also strives to achieve the same.
Coherence ensures that all parts of the organization work together smoothly. When a customer has a seamless experience with a brand across all products and services, it builds confidence, trust, and loyalty. This requires the different sections of the organization to work together cohesively.
Differentiation
In a marketplace filled with competing products, standing out pays rich dividends. When creating a brand identity, one must emphasize the differences and what makes them better than the rest. Brands should make it easy for the public to understand these differences so they can make informed choices when selecting one brand over another.
Value
The ultimate goal of any organization is creating value for its products and its brand. Value doesn’t only refer to the monetary sense – it also includes the goodwill that a company earns through its actions, values, and ethos. When a brand is associated with socially responsible actions, it enhances the value of the company and impacts everything it represents, including its brand. The brand identity, therefore, upholds those values both tangibly and intangibly.
Paying attention to the above-mentioned factors allows for the creation of a brand identity that is enduring and strong. Brand identity is created by combining many different visual elements together. In the next section, we will look at these elements and how they translate into one comprehensive brand identity.
Elements of a Brand Identity
Brand identity is not confined to just the logo but involves many elements working together to create a cohesive identity. These elements include:
Logo
It is, undoubtedly, one of the most important elements of brand identity. Also known as a brandmark, wordmark, signature, or pictorial mark, the logo is a pictorial representation or a graphical symbol of a brand. It may contain the name of the company or brand or can be a symbol or image that represents the company.
Example: The symbol of Apple is perhaps the most recognized, and whether the name is present or not, just the symbol of the apple with a bite on the side is enough to tell the viewer they are looking at an Apple product.
Similarly, some brands use a specific typography to create a text symbol that becomes representative of the brand. A familiar wordmark or brandmark would be Coca-Cola, whose specific font and color are instantly identifiable.
Typography
Also known as the corporate font or letterform marks, typography is the font and text style used for all corporate activities, including the website. Often the corporate font is taken from the logo itself.
However, some fonts may not render well for large blocks of text, such as website content or blogs. In such cases, a compatible font is picked and used to create the brand identity. This font then represents the brand and becomes a part of the entire brand identity exercise.
Source: Famous brands with their logo fonts.
Color Palette
Colors are an important element of brand identity, as they have psychological inferences. Picking the right color for the brand is crucial to brand identity. Knowing about the psychology of colors can help select the right colors to represent the brand. A color palette represents the colors associated with the brand. Most commonly, the colors are picked from the logo and may consist of one or more colors.
Example: The color palette of Cadbury is dominated by violet. Cadbury even ran a campaign without their brand name, based solely on the strength of their color palette and their brand identity element.
Typically, no more than three primary colors are associated with any brand. However, this should not restrict the color palette, as different tints or shades of the same colors can be used to create a larger palette. This also helps control the emotions conveyed by the brand color scheme.
Tagline
Taglines, also called theme lines, are short texts typically consisting of one or two phrases, such as catchphrases or slogans that represent the philosophy of the brand. They are designed for dramatic effect and memorability. Taglines are used in marketing materials, and if they catch on, they can be very valuable for the brand.
Example: Nike's tagline "Just Do It" is perhaps the most famous tagline of all time.
Audio Signatures
These are unique sounds associated with a particular brand. Audio signatures or sonic signatures help the brand stand out from competitors, engage the listener, and enhance brand recognition.
Many times, we hear a scrap of music or sound, and we instantly recognize the brand behind it. That is the power of an audio signature.
Audio signatures can be used across all audio-visual media, including vlogs, podcasts, advertisements, and radio, to emphasize and enhance brand identity and recognition.
Example: The background music of 20th Century Fox is highly recognizable and quite famous.
Logo Animation
As we have already discussed, logos are a crucial part of brand identity. Now, when you add animation to the logo or the brandmark, its impact becomes much more powerful. Most companies use static logos, so each one has an equal opportunity to be noticed or ignored. However, when you animate the logo, the dynamics change, and audiences are more likely to notice an animated symbol or figure over a static one.
Animated logos stand out, denote innovation, and are fun and engaging. They can be effectively used in all audio-visual and digital channels.
Example: Pixar Animation Studio's logo animation is a spectacle by itself.
Corporate Brand Stationery
All the official stationery and correspondence of an organization should reflect its branding. The color palette, typography, and logo should be displayed to enhance the brand identity. This should be used on letterheads, business cards, envelopes, brochures, and other stationery used for official work.
Email Signatures, Social Media Brand Design
Digital media plays an important role these days in creating and enhancing brand identity. Social media, in particular, has a major part to play in the entire branding exercise. The social media brand design should reflect and be in sync with the overall branding. The colors, fonts, typography, and images should all correspond to the overall brand identity.
Digital outreach also includes emails that are sent on behalf of the organization, whether for marketing and sales or for other administrative purposes. The email signatures should also conform to the overall brand look and feel, with the use of the brand logo, typeface, colors, and imagery being essential for brand identity.
Example: SEMRush showcases its brand identity in all of its social media posts.
Tip: Trademarks are also an integral part of the branding process. Registering the trademarks of your brand is essential so no one else can use those elements, ensuring your intangible asset and the brand are legally protected.
As illustrated above, each element works with the others to create the overall brand identity and strengthen it. Each exposure creates an association that, over time, becomes an integral part of the brand and goes on to create its identity.
Creating a Brand Identity: The Process
The best way to start with any project is to break down the entire process from start to finish into smaller stages or steps. This helps streamline the entire exercise and ensures the final outcome is as expected.
The process of creating a brand identity can be broken down into four distinct steps. Each step needs to be completed before moving on to the next to ensure that the brand identity created is effective.
Let’s look at how we create a brand identity design:
Step 1: Research
No process can be started without initial research, and the same is true for creating a brand identity. In this first stage, it is important to gather as much information as possible about the company, organization, products, market, and competition. This gives insight into what is required from the brand identity and what needs to be done to create an effective one.
To gather the necessary information, many tools can be used:
- Market Research: This includes both qualitative and quantitative research to get a clear idea of the market and its potential. Data can be collected through surveys, questionnaires, and polls, as well as through observation of consumer behavior and motivation to determine what needs to be done to create a brand identity that resonates with the target audience.
- Product Usability Testing: As the name suggests, here the product is evaluated based on consumer usage and feedback. This can be used to both improve the product as well as create a more effective brand identity.
- Marketing Audit: This involves analyzing the marketing environment and understanding the market requirements before starting the journey of creating a brand identity. Feedback from this can be used to tweak the branding exercise.
- Competitive Audit: It is essential to know the competition and understand their products and marketing tactics. This helps give a more comprehensive picture of what you’re dealing with and highlights the areas to focus on to stand apart from the competition.
- Creating Buyer Personas: Knowing the segment of consumers who are most likely to buy and be interested in your products assists with your branding activity. Creating a buyer persona enhances your understanding of the target buyer and their typical behavior and responses.
Step 2: Strategy
Once the initial research is done, the data and feedback can be used to create a clear-cut branding strategy that would include the creation of the brand identity.
The strategy would define what to focus on and which segment to target with your brand identity. The initial research will give you all the information needed to create a comprehensive strategy for the brand identity.
This strategy will serve as a guideline for all branding decisions and will help ensure that the brand identity aligns with the company’s overall goals and values. A clear strategy also helps in communicating the brand’s mission and values consistently across all touchpoints.
Step 3: Design
This is the third stage where the actual designing of the brand takes place.
At this stage, the client and designers sit down to discuss the details of the design elements, such as the logo, symbols, color palette, typography, tagline, music, audio files, and more. This phase involves collaboration and creative ideation, resulting in multiple design concepts that are usually presented to the client for feedback and approval.
Several mood boards and mockups may be created to help visualize different design directions. Feedback from the client is used to refine the designs, ensuring that they resonate with the intended audience while being aligned with the brand’s mission and strategy.
Once the designs are approved, the brand’s visual identity is ready to be implemented across various platforms and mediums.
Here’s an example of What A Story's Brand Design and Identity project. These designs were created for an Information Technology firm, a leader in Data Analytics and Automation. The design brief was to create a simple yet memorable logo with clean lines and bold fonts. Here’s what we did:
Step 4: Creating Touchpoints
The final step in the process is to implement the approved designs and create brand touchpoints where the brand will interact with its audience. This is the phase where the brand identity is brought to life, and consistency across all brand touchpoints is critical.
These touchpoints include:
Letterhead
Creating the official stationery that would be used for all communications is a part of this process. The letterhead is the first of these and should reflect the branding in terms of the logo, typography, and colors.
Business Card
Next is creating the business card. Like the letterhead, the business card should incorporate the logo, typography, and color palette that represents the brand. This is an essential touchpoint, as it often serves as a direct representation of the brand in personal or professional meetings.
Marketing Collaterals
This includes the creation of brochures, pamphlets, and product packaging, among other marketing materials. All these collaterals should be designed to align with the brand identity and communicate a consistent message to the audience.
Website and Owned Media
Your website is one of the most crucial brand touchpoints. It should be designed with the same visual elements and style as the rest of the brand’s identity. It should reflect the brand’s values and mission while providing a user-friendly and cohesive experience for visitors.
Other owned media, such as email templates, blogs, and social media profiles, should also reflect the brand’s identity and be part of a consistent visual ecosystem.
Email Signature Design
Emails are one of the most common forms of communication between a company and its customers or clients. Creating a branded email signature is another way to reinforce the brand identity.
Advertising and Media
Creating social media pages, posts, and ads with the brand’s elements prominently featured is another essential part of this process. The goal is to maintain consistency across all platforms, ensuring that the audience recognizes the brand in every interaction.
Experiences
Beyond visual design, brand experiences also reflect a company’s identity. This includes everything from product packaging to customer interactions, both online and offline. Delivering a cohesive and positive brand experience helps strengthen brand identity and build long-term customer relationships.
The brand identity must also reflect in elements like product packaging to give customers an omnichannel brand experience. Every touchpoint should reinforce the same brand image and values.
And That’s a Wrap!
What A Story is well-versed in both the process and the requirements of creating an effective brand identity. With extensive experience in design and branding, we have an edge over competitors when it comes to crafting a positive and relevant brand identity that resonates with the public.
Contact us to learn more about how we can help your organization and brand stand out in the market.
