Do you understand the unique features that set your brand apart?
You might already know enough to understand the difference between a brand and a business. But truth be told, knowing the difference doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll tick every box when it comes to branding.
That’s just the background reading.
You wouldn’t hand in a blank dissertation at university and say I’ve read the book, so surely I pass? You have to put that knowledge into practice, and honestly, that still doesn’t mean you’ll tick every box.
In our experience as a branding agency, we’ve seen plenty of great brands turn up in our office – still missing some pieces of the branding puzzle. Even one missing element can distinguish between an overnight phenomenon and a failure.
If you’ve followed everything you’ve read in the books and your brand still hasn’t taken off as you imagined, maybe, just maybe, you’re missing something.
In this blog, we are going to talk through the top 5 things that brands neglect and what they mean to your brand if you do!
So, get out your notepads because we’re about to build your brand with you.
Identity
In a puzzle, brand identity would be those outside pieces that we love to find. Why? Because it’s the most obvious, without it, you’re not going to have a clue where to start, it solidifies your decisions from the outside in.
If your brand doesn’t have a brand identity, you would potentially have to return to the drawing board. Brand identity is simply put, the colours, logo, design and other distinguishable features that make your brand stand out from the competition.
If you’ve read any of our previous blogs, you’ll know we get a little frustrated when people mistake brand identity for the brand’s entirety. However, it’s a piece of the whole picture, no less.
If your brand doesn’t have design elements and colour schemes that form your brand identity, you will get left behind. Those features will help you catch the eye and create bonds with your consumers. The one thing that all successful brands need is customers.
Top tip: Think long and hard about your choices regarding your colour scheme. Specific colours evoke emotions in people that you will want to steer away from, that is, unless you are in the business of creating chaos, which we hope you’re not.
Purpose
Brand purpose is a growing trend in the business world. This has been especially relevant since the global pandemic. Coronavirus swept the globe, and for savvy shoppers, with much more time on their hands, it highlighted which brands they connected with and, of course, which ones they didn’t.
Your purpose is the reason behind your brand existing beyond making money. In most cases, businesses wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t some monetary value to be made. However, it’s the passion behind your brand that potential customers want to see highlighted.
Your brand purpose can help you create relationships with your demographic through the values you hold. These types of highly emotive bonds are far more robust than one formed by the way your brand looks. So it’s definitely something you should be thinking about and paying attention to!
Top tip: If you hold a particular set of beliefs and they helped you build the brand you have today, don’t be scared of sharing them. Yours and your brand’s story overlap countless times along the journey, and they will together build your long-term success and, away from business, your happiness.
Branding at Create8
Building an unforgettable brand is one of the key differences between success and failure in the modern business world. We exist in a world where we can purchase from anywhere in the world at the click of a button, and that alone is reason enough to stand out on a deeper and more meaningful level.
However, building a brand is also one of the most challenging things to achieve. That’s why we would always suggest utilising a branding agency or expert to help put your ideas into practice.
As an agency with tons of experience, at Create8, we have been building successful brands from day one. You don’t have to take our word for it; check out some of our recent projects. Let us know what you think and get in touch if you want to learn more about how we could help you.
Personality
Does your brand have a personality? Sounds like a silly question, doesn’t it? But the truth is that brands with human characteristics are far more successful at building relationships with their clientele. This is largely down to the business owner shaping their brand to fit in with the type of people it wishes to attract.
By stacking up your characteristics in a way that builds bonds with people, you will be able to elicit a far more positive response from your demographic. For example, if your brand aims to sell children’s products, it should speak in a way that resonates with children and parents. Whereas, if you were selling candles, your general demeanour would be more in line with a homeowner.
Brand personality is even more critical now than it has ever been before. This is likely due to the rise in artificial intelligence like chatbots. People want to shop with a brand that shares common goals with them, not with a robot that artificially responds to enquiries.
Top tip: Your brand’s personality falls primarily down to your understanding of your demographic. If you don’t know who you are trying to sell to, you’ll never be able to connect with them and build relationships.
Tone of voice
Your tone of voice will play a part in your personality. The way your brand communicates will say a lot about how you view your potential customers.
Do those looking to buy from you want to be informed or advised, or on the other hand, do they want to be guided and enticed? There are lots of different ways to sell things to people, and by far, the most effective is by talking to them.
There’s a communication model developed in 1971 by Professor Albert Mehrabian. He found that when attempting to communicate a message, value was distributed to the listener in three ways. 7% was through the words you choose, 38% through tone of voice and 55% through body language. If we think about that for a second, whilst attempting to communicate your message online, you lose that 55% straight away, unless you’re using video content, that is!
Therefore, of the remaining 45%, tone of voice is responsible for 38% of it. If you didn’t think about the language you use and how you spread your message was important. We suggest you think again.
Top tip: When it comes to understanding tone of voice, we use our expert content writers to offer each client several different understandable moods and manners. Whether your brand is happy and informative or serious and corporate, the sooner you understand it, the sooner your content can start to resonate with your demographic.
Brand audience
OK, we’ve made it to the final point. It kind of feels like most of the previous ones have headed in this direction either intentionally or accidentally on purpose.
Brand audience is easily summarised as the specific group of consumers most likely to want your product or service. You’ll hear them called all sorts of things, such as target demographic, potential clients, etc. But one thing remains the same, and that is that you need their custom to drive sales to your business.
However, the true beauty of understanding your audience isn’t to sell products at this moment; it’s to know how and where you can position yourself in the long run.
The truth is – your brand audience can, and probably will change. However, the more you understand who is interacting with your brand and who may interact with a different sort of campaign or product offering, the more strategically you can plan your brand growth.
Top tip: The more frequently you address your interaction, the more valuable your knowledge will be. For example, if your product or service finds its way into a sector you didn’t expect, you will have to alter your offering to suit the demographic in that sector in order to grow your brand.
Check your analytics platforms and understand the data you have to leverage your brand entirely. Who’s looking, who’s interacting and who’s returning again and again?
At Create8, we specialise in building brands that are not only memorable but also flexible and able to grow substantially in the long run. By creating a full brand, you are putting yourself in a strategic position to increase in size and make a mark in your sector.
If you want to see how Create8 could help you build something special, fill out our contact form. Or go old school and give us a call; we are always here to talk and help every client on their journey to success.
Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
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