Branding and Identity
What is branding?
A brand helps us understand the difference between one company and the next. There are stories, feelings, and emotions involving a brand. Branding is the impression that customers have about your business, the perspective that they have, the thoughts and feelings regarding your business. Your brand is the images you portray, the language you use, the experiences you make, and the way you decide to move forward with doing business. Your brand is not a replica or duplication of anyone else’s brand. Your brand does not need to one-up anyone else’s brand. The goal of branding is to help businesses gain clients and for your business identity to be expressed and cultivated. Your brand is about giving a reason for people to trust you and to want to do business with you. Branding is about involving authentic emotions. Having a strong brand does not reflect on the number of clients you have. You can have a small number of clients and still have an unforgettable brand.
Branding is developing your brand and using tools to engage your audience. There are a lot of touch-points (point of contact between you and your future customers) where you could express your brand. Your brand can be expressed via business cards, website, brochures, etc. Basically your brand is the relationship you have with your customers.
Benefits of branding
- Develops trust
- Grows business credibility
- Differentiates your business and other people’s business
- Add values to what you are representing
- Gives clarity on where you want to go with your business
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Attracts your targeted customers
Brand Identity is the visual elements of your brand. That includes colors, typography, graphics, websites structure, etc. “Branding is the process of connecting good strategy with good creativity -Marty Neumeier”
What to avoid while branding:
- Not investing time on your brand- You should be confident in spending time/money/effort towards your brand because a brand adds value to your business and you’re working to continuously grow your business and to see results.
- You can do anything but not everything- This means instead of taking on the whole project all at once, you can start with bits and pieces of the project. Implement a strategy, follow through on your plan, and stay consistent on what you want for your brand.
- Comparing your brand to others- There is always going to be a brand out there who seems to be “better, more established, neater, etc” than you. You might want to mirror what they do but you shouldn’t. You can learn how to improve from other businesses but copying their exact branding and identity is unfair towards them and honestly, kind of creepy (“In a world where you can be anyone, be yourself! – Etta Turner). Think of how you would feel if someone copies your brand identity and uses the information to profit or with impure intentions. What is the motivation behind stealing someone else’s brand identity? Pretending to be someone else’s brand will start to get uncomfortable and exhausting while you’re running your business. This causes a lack of clarity. You’re unique and your branding should show that. Even if you fail, at least you are staying true to your brand identity. Lets talk branding!