Knowing Your Brand
Is your brand attracting the amount of business it should? Has it helped you build a loyal customer base? Understanding your brand can have a significant impact on your company.
Regardless of the size or type of your company, one of the most important parts of your business is your brand. It’s what can give your company an advantage over the competition. Your company’s brand tells current and potential customers who you are, who you want to be, and determines how people will perceive you.
A brand isn’t just a marketing tool, it’s the spine of your company. And understanding your brand is more than acquiring marketing tools. It’s knowing who your company is, why it exists, and what your overall mission is. Understanding your brand and its impact on your business can be the difference between hitting your ceiling and breaking through it.
Your Logo Matters!
The foundation of your brand is your logo. This is the visual representation of your brand. It’s what communicates your brand to current and potential customers. Your logo will be prominently displayed on your website, packaging, and promotional materials and the slightest of changes can have an impact on your company’s reputation.
Every aspect of your logo can express who you are as a company. “The color of the logo speaks to who you are as a brand,” says Black Tie Digital Marketing’s Creative Director Amelia Crane. “For instance, black, red, and white has a masculine feeling. But teal and white gives the feeling of a spa.” The color of a logo matters so much that some companies are instantly recognized with those colors. McDonald’s, for example, is so affiliated with red and yellow that the colors alone make people think of the fast food chain.
Logos also often have psychological meanings. The ice cream vendor Baskin Robbins always has the number 31 in their logo in some shape or form. This is because of their original 31 flavors. “Too many brands don’t think about that,” Crane says about psychological meanings in logos. “What does it say to your audience that you don’t know who you are?”
An example of how psychology plays a role in logo design is Google. Their previous logo saw the letters slightly off-kilter. The logo represents the company so much that it was feared that people would perceive this as the company being slightly off balance. For their most recent logo, they slightly moved the “G” and “L” so that the letters line up perfectly.
Similar to other aspects of business, branding is changing with the times. “It used to be that a brand would last for 10 to 20 years,” says Crane. “Now they change about once every three years.”
Branding Strategy
It’s not enough to just have a brand, you need to develop a strategy for how, what, where, when, and to whom you will communicate your brand and deliver your message. This includes where you advertise, what distribution channels you use, and what you communicate to your customers both visually and verbally.
Consistent, strategic branding has the ability to add value to your company’s products and services. This value comes from the fact that potential customers will see your brand and either perceive additional quality of your company or will create an emotional attachment which can drive customer loyalty. Having strong brand equity means that you can charge more for your products and services than identical, unbranded competition due to its superior perception.
Know Your Brand
Learning about your brand is kind of like a path to self-discovery but for your business. It can be difficult, time-consuming, and uncomfortable but it’s very important to the future success of your business.
Some of the questions you’ll have to answer include:
Who are you?
Why do you exist?
What is your mission?
What are some of the features of your products and services?
What is the current perception of your brand?
Reaching into your company’s brand will also tell you a lot about your current and potential customers. You’ll learn about their needs, habits, and desires. This is important because in order to give your customers what they want, you need to understand them. Being able to provide your target market with exactly what they’re looking for can build trust between you and the customers and turn into referrals multiplying your customer base.
Once you understand your brand and your customers, you’ll be able to move on to developing a brand that represents you the right way. This includes creating the perfect logo and creating a messaging strategy that will communicate your brand to the world. There are likely consumers that are in need of your services. The right branding and messaging strategy will allow you to reach those consumers so they can become your customers.
Black Tie’s Method
At Black Tie Digital Marketing, we make sure that our clients fully understand their brand so that they can reach their ultimate goals. The first thing we do with each client is complete a Branding DNA Architecture. This document will examine every aspect of your company including the history of the business, defining your target market, and stating your future goals. Additionally, the process will see you answer more introspective questions such as why you exist, develop a mission statement, and identify pain points.
All of these aspects of your business are integral to your future success. They tell where you come from, where you want to go, and who you are as a company. Understanding these aspects give you a measuring stick of how you conduct business and, by defining your weaknesses, give you a path forward for improving your company.
The Branding DNA Architecture also allows our graphic design team to develop a world class logo and for us to create a marketing strategy that will attract your target market to your business. This will ensure that you’re marketing to the right demographic and drawing in customers that are most likely to purchase your product or require your services.
Understanding your brand is integral to the future success of your company. While many people only consider the logo when thinking of branding, it’s much, much more than that. Branding is not only understanding your company, but also understanding your customers. In order to better serve them, you need to know their needs, wants, and desires. It’s also about communicating your mission, core values, and your future goals. Once you understand and define your brand, you’ll be bound for future success.