5 Techniques That Are Essential for Crafting a Unique Brand Identity
CRAFTING YOUR BRAND IDENTITY
Your brand identity is a combination of your logos, your colour palette, the typography you choose and the visuals you decide to present, along with your values and brand personality – each element works together to seamlessly create the persona for your business. Much like people, your brand identity should be individualised to match your products, services and the landscape of the current market for your sector.
Why Is Brand Identity Important?
Customers connect with your brand identity when it resonates with them, thus forming long-lasting customer relationships and solidifying the reputation of your brand. Curating a solid brand identity is essential to standing out against your competitors, with countless brands offering similar products and services your brand identity has never been more important.
Spending the time crafting a unique brand identity will be highly valuable in the long term for your business so even if it feels pointless right now, keep reading to gain all the knowledge you need to shape your brand identity and propel your brand to new heights.
BRAND IDENTITY: STEP 1
Research Your Competitors
Market research is the essential first step to crafting a unique brand identity because before you can make sure your business stands out, you must first understand what your competitors are doing. The team at Riley & Thomas are always on top of the latest marketing trends, the new colour palette of the season, the designs that are catching consumer attention and so much more to ensure we can always offer the best branding solutions for your business.
Using tools, like a SWOT analysis can be highly effective in analysing the ways your competitors are working and ascertain what you want to be doing better. But what is it you want to be analysing?
Brand messaging: what emotions, values and beliefs are they trying to convey to their customers – you want to be digging deep into their messaging because it will give you an insight into the persona of their business.
Visual brand identity: analyse and evaluate their logo, colour palette, typography and imagery choices – each of these components works together to indicate the aesthetic they are striving to achieve for their business.
Target audience?: Working out who they are trying to reach within the market and the types of customers they are currently drawing into their business – this will allow you to evaluate your own intended customer base, working out if it is the same or different.
Customer communication: knowing how your competitors speak and interact with their customers, their response times and customer service procedures will help you to identify gaps in their services and tighten your response in this area.
BRAND IDENTITY: STEP 2
Understand Your Target Audience
Now that you understand your competitors, it is time to understand the target audience you want to be associated with your brand identity. At Riley & Thomas, our team will spend dedicated time discussing the market with you and identifying all potential audiences that your business could focus on. From here we will work with you to hone in on individualised areas of the market that fit the whole brand identity we are crafting.
This is an essential part of curating your brand identity because we need to know who you intend to target to tailor your messaging and brand identity to fit the lives and interests of your target audience. We will first look at who they are, delving into their ages, their living situation, where they live and anything else that will help us build a picture of them as a person.
Next, we’ll develop an idea of what things they care about, working off of your established brand values we can align these with the types of people we hope to draw into your business. It will then be time to evaluate the issues that they may face so that as a brand, you can position yourselves to help them overcome some of these issues with your products and services.
Once we have established who they are, what they care about and the issues they face, we will be in a position to develop your brand identity in line with the people you hope to turn into customers.
“In the realm of business, a strong brand identity is the one constant that navigates the journey of customer connection. It’s not just a logo; it’s the voice that resonates with authenticity and loyalty amidst competition. With it, businesses speak directly to their audiences to create lasting connections that transcend mere transactions.”
MEGAN THOMPSON, HEAD OF MARKETING
“When I am walking down the street and I see an advert for a company like McDonalds, there is instant recognition there! I know that they have spent hours upon hours crafting their brand identity so that it is now so distinguishable that nobody could miss it.”
CHARLOTTE TAYLOR, SOCIAL & MARKETING ACCOUNT MANAGER
BRAND IDENTITY: STEP 3
Craft A Unique Look & Feel
A brand’s overall design aesthetic is a huge element to be considered when crafting a unique brand identity.
The designers at Riley & Thomas work meticulously with our clients to plan logos, colour palettes, typography and imagery choices to ensure each element perfectly reflects the brand identity we are creating for your business.
We want to ensure that each element of your visual brand identity is pulled from the real-life inspiration that has driven your business thus far, making your logo a visual representation of your values and the colour palette a reflection of the values behind your brand.
A visual identity that stands apart from the others in your market will increase your opportunity to expand your customer base. You must keep your brand identity consistent across all marketing material that you create from your social channels and website to the physical marketing products you produce – a customer should always be able to see an advert or social post and immediately relate that back to your brand.
Suppose you want to be seen as a pioneer for innovation and creativity within your market. In that case, your brand identity must show your dedication to unique and individualised designs that have been well thought out to match your business persona and the team at Riley & Thomas are equipped with the skills to make this achievement possible.
BRAND IDENTITY: STEP 4
Understand Your Target Audience
Talking to your customers through email marketing, social posts or in-person should all hold the same voice and tone. How you choose to communicate with your audience will solidify your brand identity as by this stage, the customer is invested in your persona and a change in tone or voice is likely to confuse feelings towards your business.
Riley & Thomas will help you to consider how your target audience likes to be spoken to – what tone they use in conversations, whether they are more serious or on the causal side of marketing and what values they hold that you should be promoting to them. If you need to understand whether your current tone of voice is resonating with your audience, ask them. As a business, you should be utilising feedback from clients/customers to strengthen and shape your brand identity to fit the market you are breaking into.
BRAND IDENTITY: STEP 5
Evaluate and Adapt
Once you have worked with us to craft your brand identity, it’s time to evaluate its effectiveness and make any changes that would improve your standing within the market. Your brand identity is not a one-time task that can be left to the side, every aspect of your business and marketing efforts will always need to come back to this identity and be edited to match any changes in the market or customer base.
By continuously measuring your brand identity and its effectiveness, your business will always be ready to make adjustments that will continue to propel your brand forward. Your brand identity is not a rigid construct, it can be flexible, taking new shapes each time you find a gap in the market or an area that could benefit from your expertise.
“Your brand identity is the face of your business! It’s what people remember, talk about, and ultimately, choose over competitors. Investing in it is investing in your future success.”
JESS LANDER, SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER
“Brand identity goes beyond recognition; it’s the personality that draws consumers in, builds trust, and keeps them coming back. It’s the relatable aspect of your brand that creates lasting connections and loyalty.”
LOUISA LILLEY, SOCIAL & MARKETING ACCOUNT MANAGER
“Brand Identity is important because it increases brand recognition and differentiates you from your competitors, therefore elevating the worth of your brand by establishing you as unique and more memorable.”
ESME SHEPPY, JUNIOR SOCIAL & MARKETING ACCOUNT MANAGER
Looking into the new year, businesses must be encouraged by digital marketing and embrace the opportunities it brings. It is simply a fundamental part of an overall marketing strategy and should be looked at in fine detail. As digital marketing experts in The Cotswolds, we can help transform your digital marketing to suit your consumer’s needs.