Brand Identity
Last week we talked about brand consistency. This week we’re talking about Brand Identity. When some people think of “branding” all they think of is the logo, but it is so much more than that.
Your Brand Identity is Everything Your Customer Sees
What is a “Brand Identity”? Your brand identity comprises of all of the customer facing things that makes your company Your Company. It includes your logo, your colors, your fonts, the types of images you use, your messaging, the types of shapes you use, patterns and textures used in design, the setting and feel of your videos, and the tone of the copy you write. (And honestly, I could keep listing things, but I think you get the idea.) All of this needs to be established, put on paper and then followed with every piece of collateral* you put out.
What it is not:
Your brand identity is not everything that goes on behind the scenes: HR, legal, finances SOPs, etc. But even behind the scenes, Brand Identity plays a role. You want to maintain consistency both with the people inside your organization as well as behind the scenes with your customers. Maybe legal writes the contracts you send to customers, but those contracts can still be branded with your colors, fonts and logo. The experience should be consistent even past the marketing stage. Who you are on the outside and the inside should be the same.
Establishing a Brand Identity Creates Trust
You’ve heard me say it before and you will hear me say it 100 more times. Brand Consistency creates trust. If everything that you put in front of your customers feels cohesive, you will build trust with them. It’s just like any other relationship. Curve balls and inconsistency are not helpful when trying to build trust.
Establishing a Brand Identity Creates Focus
Another reason that this it is important is that it creates a focus for you. The process of figuring out who you are as a brand naturally going to create clarification. You need to know your mission and your audience and your goals and build your brand around that. If your mission is to create peace, you’re not going to use bright colors and wild patterns. Once you establish your brand identity, you base your decisions around who you are and where you’re going rather than the whims of the moment.
Over the next few weeks, we will be talking more about branding and how to create and stick to a cohesive brand as well as digging in a little deeper to the individual aspects of branding.
*collateral is any piece of media, physical or digital, that you use to promote your business. This can include, social media posts, your website, your mass emails, flyers, videos, etc. In a nutshell, it’s all the stuff your customers see.
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