As promised, today we’re going to walk you through the process of brand identity development. Where do you start? How do you create a unique brand personality? How do you revaluate the brand identity that you currently have? Many time, corporations and small businesses will reevaluate their brand message, taking a step back to be sure they’re connecting with their target audience. Other times, a new corporation or small business will need to develop their very first unique brand identity. Either way, the process is generally the same.
Step One: Identify Your Audience
Your audience has a problem, and you have the solution. The first step to developing your brand identity is to determine how to convey your solution to those who have the problem. Does your target audience have a serious, urgent and severe problem that needs a professional, respectable, certified and experienced solution? If so, your brand identity needs to be clean, polished, proficient, and convey the message of complete professionalism and reverence.
Does your audience have a simple, inconsequential, bothersome problem that needs a quick, trouble-free and affordable solution? If so, your brand identity needs to be light, fun, logical and reasonable. We could go on and on, but by identifying your audience needs, you’ll be able to assume yoru brand’s tone and voice.
Step Two: Substance
The second step is where the fun begins. This is all about how the world will see your brand for the rest of its lifetime. This step involves many months of meetings with an expert marketing team and creative minds to determine what your overall tone will be. Everything from your core colors, to fonts, to language and semantics, to sounds and background music, to themes, to mannerisms and characters, to verbal and non-verbal messages, to employees and training will be evaluated.
While your brand message is the promise you make to your audience, your company’s brand identity is what makes it tangible and real. The brand identity turns a corporation into an individual with personality and feelings.
Step Three: Individual Personality
Just as an individual will maintain certain qualities throughout their life; things that friends and family can depend on, so too should your business in order to maintain brand identity. A brand with a recognized identity is:
• Personable: easily approachable for its target audience
• Likable: builds brand equity. If your target audience simply likes your brand identity, they will be more likely to feel guilty when using a competitor’s product or service.
• Appealing to the Target Audience: there is not one person in the world that is able to make everyone happy. A brand should not try to appeal to every single demographic; rather appeal to that target audience. This will not only increase sales and drive traffic, but will make your brand more “human.”
• Make Your Brand Human: Developing a unique brand identity, one that appeals to a specific audience and maintains consistency through the years, will increase brand equity.