A brand is nothing without an identity of its own. Brands that lack an identity are most likely digging their own death pit while stripping off the ability to appear distinct and exclusive.
Brand identity is essential for a brand as it helps bestow it with the vitals of success and profitability. Also, having an identity helps a brand generate engagement rather than forcing it to move on without a strategy and a purpose. Hence, one thing is for sure; brand identity is the only characteristic that gives a brand the power to thrive.
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However; bestowing a brand with an identity is not a single day’s task. It takes months or even years for brands to come up with an identity that they can flaunt. Hence, a step-by-step guide is important to follow, to ensure that the process remains successful and beneficial.
Brand Identity Guide
This guide consists of several steps that are significant for the brands to follow. Missing out on any of the steps can lead the brand to possess an incomplete identity that would be either incapable of drawing attention or unable to create a difference.
Conduct a SWOT Analysis
The most basic activity that the management should perform before a brand is launched in the market, is that of conducting a SWOT analysis. This analysis calls for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the brand while exploring the opportunities and threats that prevail in the industry.
Getting yourself equipped with this knowledge is necessary as it is likely to help you position your brand correctly in the market. This information can also help the management understand the elements it can play on for the sake of creating a distinct image of the brand in its industry and globally.
Conduct a Competitor Research
Next comes, the competitor research. In step one, the management must have highlighted competitors as its threat, however; this identification isn’t enough. Conducting a thorough research on the competitors is also necessary for understanding the moves that they will make in the future, that could have an impact on the brand. The task, though difficult, isn’t impossible to perform. Knowing the competitor’s past trends, together with the activities that they have been doing, can give the management a strong idea of their plans for the future.
Knowing the competitor’s plans for the future helps a brand attain a strong position in the market. This privilege allows the brand to either defy any competitive strategy that the competitor is likely to bring in the future or to come up with an approach that could lead the brand on a different path, than that of the competitor, to avoid war between the two.
Perform STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)
Now that the research is done, the management needs to go for segmenting its market into groups of people based on their likes, preferences, and interests. From the numerous clusters, the management can then pick a specific target with which the brand can build a strong connection; a target which the brand can cater.
The brand, as a matter of fact, cannot satisfy the needs of all, however; as far as its target audience is concerned, the brand has a distinct association with them; their personality is the brand’s personality, their likes are the brand’s strengths. It’s a lock and key kind of a relationship where the target is in need of a solution that the brand is meant to provide. Hence, target customers are meant to be the ones with whom the formation of an immediate bond, with the brand, is predicted.
Once the customers are identified then comes the part where the management needs to identify the brand’s value proposition. A brand can be good at a lot of things, however; best at one. That one thing hence would become the brand’s USP (unique selling proposition) based on which it will attract its customers towards the offering.
Design for your Brand
A brand needs to have a visual identity so it can present itself in a professional manner in public. This includes the brand having its logo, corporate identity kit, corporate brochure designs, social media kit, and other similar stuff. Hence, getting a custom design for the brand is necessary for the sake of its success.
In case if you are wondering whom to approach for the job, be informed that there are several top graphic design companies in the market that offer the job at affordable rates. From custom logo designs to web development services, these agencies are trained in doing it all. Hence, approaching one for a professional set of design is the best that a company could opt for.
Communicating the Persona and Experience
A brand is likely to have a persona of its own. Bestowing a personality to a brand makes it more approachable, as human beings feel connected to things that possess human characteristics. Therefore; a brand with a personality is better than a brand without one.
Also, a brand shouldn’t act as a mere problem solver machine. It is necessary for it to contain and impart to its customers a complete experience that can leave its customers mesmerized. A good brand leads its customers on a journey where they experience the essence of it in totality rather than just using it for the sake of it.
Communicating the brand’s persona and experience to the target market through marketing is an essential activity. Not doing so will limit the elements of the brand to the brand as the customers would never know the brand for having characteristics that are according to their preferences and appeal.
The modes, that a brand can use for communicating the same may include billboards, social media, print and digital ads, BTL activities etc.
Show It Off
Finally, when all the steps of the process are followed, the brand is ready to be shown off. Businesses, after following the steps, are likely to have a wholesome brand that they can flaunt for the sake of enhanced profitability and reach.