When you hear someone one mention Apple, chances are you probably think of a fun, trendy company that creates electronic devices. Now think of a brand like Red Bull, you most likely associate it with pushing the limits, individuality, achievement, extreme and adrenaline fueled with inspirational, but with a little more attitude. This is because these brands have done an excellent job in defining their identities and personalities and every interaction with customers embodies this flavour making the soul of the brands easy to identify and relate with.
A company’s brand identity is more than just a logo design and slogan. It is an identity that consumers interact with. It is how the company wants to be perceived through the conveyance of attributes, values, purpose, strengths, and passion.
It incorporates components (eg. Name, logo, tone, tagline, typeface) to reflect the value the company is trying to bring to the market and is considered one of the most valuable assets to the business.
What is brand identity in marketing?
According to the Brand identity prism model there are 6 elements that drives a brands success. These elements are:
1. Physique – This refers to the logo, colour scheme, packaging, the brands online space and other marketing materials.
2. Personality – This is the brands character. It defines how the brand communicates with the market and may be expressed in the design style, colour scheme, writing style or even by its celebrity endorsements.
3. Culture – The culture of a brand is its value systems and principles that it bases its behaviour. This refers to its origins and values it stands for.
4. Relationship – The relationship element signifies the relationship between the brand and the customers.
5. Reflection – This element relates to the direct stereotypical consumer of the brand. Although a company may have multiple personas that purchase their goods the reflection refers to the brands “top” type of buyer.
6. Self-Image – Self-image is how the consumer sees them self when compared to the brand. For example, a customer may or may not be able to see themselves purchasing a sports car.
Do the research and find where your company stands in the market.
Before attempting to create your company’s brand a bit of exploration work needs to be done. A clear understanding of the company’s purpose and place in the market need to be defined. A good place to start is by performing a competitor analysis to discover how you differ from them and how your brand can stand out. There are also a few diagnostic tools to assist you such as the SWOT analysis, this tool will help you collect the right information in order define your brand.
Discover the brands vision, mission, essence, personality and value proposition.
It goes a long way when going through the process of developing your brands vision, mission, essence and value proposition to reflect and evaluate your company. Asking the who, what, where, and how will point you in the right direction and make it easier for you to create a strong brand
Here’s an example of an identity we created that expresses these attributes.
Vision Statement – A vision statement communicates what you want your company to become in the future. Before you start developing a vision statement, it is helpful to run through a series of questions to help you discover your vision. Some questions you should consider are:
- What are the products and services that are important for your company?
- What are you doing differently that makes your company special?
- Where do you see the company in 5 years?
- And how would your customers describe your brand?
Mission Statement – Mission Statements should be simple and define the purpose of your company.
When developing your companies mission statement it is useful to think about:
- What the specific market needs?
- What your company does to address these needs?
- What are your company’s guiding principles that define its approach?
- And why do your customers choose you over your competitors?
Essence – The essence of a brand represents the companies heart, soul and spirit. This element is the intangible emotions you want your customers to feel when they come into contact with your brand.
It is helpful if you image your company as an actual person and to ask yourself how would you describe its personality. For example would you want your customers to connotate your company name with safety? would reliability be a better description when associating with your brand? Or maybe you want them to think of you company as fun?
Personality – Just as with humans, a brand has its own personality and it describes the way it speaks, behaves, thinks and acts. It is important to visualise how you want your customers to experience your brand. For example do you want your customer experience to be friendly? Do you want it to be light hearted and fun? Do you want their experience to be down to earth and real? Or do you want a serious and all business tone?
Value proposition – The value proposition expresses the unique value that your company offers. It defines the brands audience, the category in which the brand exists, the benefit of the products and services as well as sets your company apart from its competitors.
When defining, your value proposition its useful to consider: Who you are speaking to? What does your brand promise? And how you differ from your competitors?
A brand identity needs to be carefully crafted to ensure it properly represents the business.
There is a lot of research and analysis to be done to create a strong brand. By performing workshops with staff and getting them involved in the process can help you get the answers you need to build a brand that resonates with your target market and can also instill the brand into your team. Once your brand is developed it is important that all your marketing efforts and customer communications must be uniform with your brand identity. By creating a strong brand your company can connect with its customers on a deeper level.
Speak to one of Noop’s marketing consultants Perth to find how we can help you shape your brands identity.