Brand identity is the collection of visual, verbal, and emotional elements that represent and differentiate a brand in the minds of its audience. In today’s world, products are purchased not only for their utility but also for their brand value. You may have come across instances where a product, though of limited utility, is being sold for a way higher price. Have you ever wondered why so?
The answer is the brand value of a product. The brand of any product is more than just a logo, tagline, packaging, brand ambassador, etc. The brand combines elements like logos, colors, typography, and visuals with a sum of experiences, emotions, beliefs, and associations that customers have with a particular identity.
There are many key elements of a brand. These are called brand elements. Brand elements are the unique aspects of your brand that create a uniform and recognizable image.
Understanding Brand Elements:
Brand elements are crucial components that contribute to the creation and maintenance of a brand’s identity. Here are three definitions of key brand elements:
1. Logo
A logo is a visual symbol or design that represents a brand. It is often the most recognizable element of a brand and serves as a visual shorthand for the brand’s identity, values, and mission. A well-designed logo is distinctive, memorable, and adaptable to various mediums and sizes.
2. Tagline
A tagline is a short, memorable phrase that encapsulates the essence of the brand. It succinctly communicates the brand’s promise, value proposition, or mission. An effective tagline is catchy, easy to remember, and reflects the brand’s personality and core values.
3. Color Palette
A color palette is a set of colors chosen to represent the brand. These colors are used consistently across all brand materials and communications to create a cohesive and recognizable visual identity. The color palette influences how the brand is perceived and can evoke specific emotions and associations that align with the brand’s message and values.
Important Keywords in the Branding Industry:
These are discussed as follows –
1. BRAND PURPOSE –
A brand purpose is the main and core reason for the existence of a brand.
For example, the purpose of a brand like ‘Apple’ is to bring to their users the best of the consumer’s experience.
2. BRAND IDENTITY –
The brand identity of any product is how a brand is presented to the public. It may include visual elements such as brand name, logo, design, color, fonts, signature sound effects, a particular kind of advertisement, etc.
For example, the tea brand ‘Taj Mahal’ has a unique brand identity that is easily recognized through its packaging, advertisements, tagline, etc.
3. BRAND POSITIONING –
It usually addresses the question. ‘How is a brand perceived by the customers’? Brand positioning is the main characteristic of the product through which it is identified.
For example, the car model ‘Tata Nano’ is the cheapest car in India.
4. BRAND VOICE –
Brand voice refers to the unique tone, flow, and style of communication that a brand uses to engage with its target audience. If the brand voice is chosen effectively, it becomes the identity of a product.
For example, the famous ‘Hello Moto’ voice whenever the phone from the brand ‘Moto’ starts is the brand voice of the product.
5. BRAND VALUE –
Brand value is the set of principles and beliefs that guide the brand’s actions and decisions. It reflects the core values that make up any brand.
For example, Amazon’s brand value is ‘Customer Obsession’. It reflects that the primary goal of the company is to give maximum satisfaction and utility to its customers.
Out of the many elements that a brand is made of, we will focus on the brand identity of a product. In this article, we will discuss what the brand identity of a product is, why it is important, and how to establish a brand identity from scratch.
WHAT IS BRAND DENTITY?
A brand is a unique identity that distinguishes a company, product, or service through elements like name, logo, and values, creating a lasting impression and emotional connection with its audience.
” Brand identity is the collection of all elements that a company creates to portray the right image to its customers. It is how a company communicates its personality, tone, and essence, as well as memories, emotions, and experiences.“
– Wally Olins, Author of ‘The Brand Handbook’
Metaphorically speaking, brand identity is the DNA of your brand. It is a representative of what your brand is made of, what makes it unique and recognizable, the personality and values of a brand, etc. The brand identity of a product encompasses the very soul of the product. The brand identity appeals to the customers, and depending on how good the appeal is, a customer either likes or dislikes a product.
A brand identity is made up from scratch through an in-depth understanding of the product, its features, its unique selling proposition, customer analysis, careful planning, execution, etc. When all these are taken care of, a memorable brand identity comes into existence.
Understand Brand Identity with Examples:
Let us look at some famous brands that have established their identities to understand more about this elusive concept.
1. Apple –
Apple’s brand identity is made of its innovation when it comes to technology, simplicity, and minimalism in design, brand logo, colors, particular sounds or ringtones unique to it, etc. All this stays in the minds of customers and makes up the overall brand identity that they get attached to.
2. McDonald’s –
McDonald’s is characterized by its signature golden arches and logo, vibrant and eye-catching color schemes, its position as an affordable food outlet, etc.
3. Starbucks –
The company’s brand identity is mostly made of its logo, simplicity, elitism due to the high price points, the personalization offered by writing names on cups, the ambiance that evokes a sense of warmth and relaxation, etc.
4. Red Bull –
Red Bull’s brand identity is primarily comprised of adventure, energy, sports, excitement, etc. Even its tagline, ‘Red Bull gives you wings’ conveys the promise of giving energy and a sudden rush of excitement that is established through their unique advertisements and voice.
5. IKEA –
IKEA’s brand identity reflects its characteristics, such as affordability, flexibility, wide variety, the joy of being able to choose and make decisions as per our liking, DIY elements, the shopping experience, etc.
6. Amul –
Amul’s brand identity is based on its iconic Amul Girl, a hint of humor and wit displayed through commentary on social situations, a focus on nutrition, freshness, and overall appreciable quality.
Also Read Marketing Vs. Branding – 9 Key Differences
WHY IS BRAND IDENTITY IMPORTANT?
Brand identity is the representation of almost everything that your brand is about. It helps your target audience, recognize and differentiate your brand from others. It maintains a certain memorability and loyalty among customers. It helps communicate the unique value proposition that is unique to a brand and determines how customers perceive a brand. A consistent Brand Identity also makes a brand look more premium and authentic.
HOW TO BUILD A STRONG BRAND IDENTITY? 7 STEPS TO FOLLOW –
Building a strong brand identity can be a daunting task. However, accomplishing it can be made easy through accurately planned steps. Let us now look at the steps through which you can achieve your target of building a successful brand identity.
1. RESEARCH ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE –
The first step to take while building a brand identity is to do thorough market research and analysis. Identifying the target customer group and their characteristics, preferences, buying habits, etc. can significantly change the game. It gives the company an idea of what needs they are catering to.
This step gives answers to questions such as: Who are the customers that you are selling to, what do they prefer, what can appeal to them, what products do they need, etc.
This research is preliminary, and the buyer personas can be developed later on as the company gathers more information in the context.
2. KNOW YOUR COMPETITION –
A very important factor to consider while working to create a brand identity is knowing about your competition. A company must analyze its competitors, their strategies, strengths, weaknesses, etc. A helpful tool for doing this is to run a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.
A company must also focus on what kind of brand identity is being built by a competitor—the visual appearance, tagline, value proposition, logo, etc.—and steer clear of doing anything that resembles it.
3. BUILD YOUR BRAND’S PURPOSE, PROPOSAL, ETC. –
At this step, the companies should look at building the factors that surround the brand identity. The starting point should be defining the purpose of your brand’s existence. Along with the purpose, there must be a mission statement that mentions this purpose.
The more the mission offers a solution to the problems of the world or the greater the impact of the mission could be, the better and more attractive it will be.
Similarly, choose your brand proposition wisely. A brand’s proposition highlights the brand’s USP (unique selling proposition). It communicates the unique and distinguishable benefits that a product offers.
4. DEVELOP A BRAND VOICE –
Developing a brand voice that is uniform across all the campaigns will help distinguish a brand from other competitors. The voice here does not mean the literal voice of the brand, but also how a brand appeals to customers.
For example, if the brand is for kid’s apparel, it can use rhythmic tones or words, words that can be spoken easily, etc.
5. DESIGN YOUR BRAND COLOR SCHEMES, LOGO, TAGLINE, ETC. –
Once a company is done with developing its brand personality at large, you can start focusing on more particular factors.
The color scheme will also be chosen according to the product offered, target customers, etc.
For example, if the target audience is an adult working-age population, the color scheme can be solid, sophisticated, and minimalistic. On the other hand, if the target audience is kids, then pop colors and fonts can be used.
The logo of a company should be unique, easily recognizable, and compatible with the brand’s personality. Mascots, monograms, emblems, and particular fonts can be used to achieve this.
Along the same lines, the tagline of a brand should be able to convey everything that a brand stands for. It must be memorable, short, and catchy. A tagline can simply describe what you do, your USP, a metaphor, etc.
6. DECIDING ON A BRAND NAME –
According to Aijaz, founder of TLDRLegal, “The best brand starts with a great name.”
Naming a brand must be a thoughtful process. Making a brand name, on the other hand, can be easy as well. There are many examples of brand names that do not resonate with the products offered, such as Apple, Adidas, Nike, Gucci, Amazon, etc. With a strong and unique product offered, a brand name will just serve as an identifier, even if it is not directly related to the product.
A brand name can also be modified words such as LinkedIn, Bumble, or Tumblr, or relevant words or combinations such as Mastercard, Facebook, or Flipkart.
7. INTEGRATE AND EXECUTE –
Once all the individual components are decided upon, they should all be blended into each other to display the whole picture, which is the brand identity.
This brand identity must now be marketed through social media, marketing campaigns, collaborations, print media, personal websites, etc. Brand identity must largely be static and uniform, but it can be changed if it does not give the desired results.
Apart from doing what is wrong, a company must also focus on what not to do. Copying competitors, losing consistency, comparing or insulting other brands, or not being coherent with their message must be avoided.
To conclude, building a brand identity is a dynamic and laborious process. Careful planning, innovation, consistency, authenticity, understanding your product and customers, and pinpointed execution are very important in building a successful brand identity. Constant monitoring is important to understand the impact of the brand identity that is built, and modifications can be made to the strategy accordingly.
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