Before you can start to unlock the secrets of successful branding, you need to think about what ‘successful’ actually means to you as a company. Are you aiming for familiarity and awareness, or to make a striking and dynamic impact, to become iconic or to portray yourself as a brand your customers can trust?
Once you’ve decided your key objectives, you can start to work with designers and digital marketers to build your new brand image. Here are a few things to think about as you get started:
Knowing your audience is crucial
The most successful brands have in-depth knowledge of their target market, knowing everything from their likes and interests to where and how they shop. This knowledge enables these brands to communicate the most effectively with their customers, providing an insight into the tone and reach each print and digital marketing campaign should be aiming for.
Great design and branding go hand-in-hand
Branding is not just about logos, fonts or banners – it is inextricably linked with every element of design you use. Design expert Robert Brunner, the founder of the design shop Ammunition, explained this to fastcompany.com:
“A brand is not your logo or ID system,”
“It’s a gut feeling people have about you. When two or more people have the same feeling, you have a brand. You get that feeling via smart design, which creates the experiences people have with the brand. Everything you do creates the brand experience, ergo design IS your brand.”
How to be unique
To be unique with your branding is to stand out, to be memorable. To do this, you don’t necessarily need a wacky or revolutionary branding idea. You simply need to figure out what your company’s unique selling point (USP) is – if you don’t have one, find one – and this is what you will use as the single, dominating message of all your branding to help customers remember you.
Don’t let your customers down with inconsistency
You may have designed your latest digital marketing campaign to make a big splash, but you should also remember that consistency is another characteristic of successful and enduring brands. Even something as simple as a spelling mistake or an outdated logo can subtly suggest to customers that your company can’t be trusted or relied upon in the service it provides. Be consistent if you want your brand to have longevity – this doesn’t mean that you can’t launch a re-brand or change direction, but you need to do it across all parts of your branding and marketing efforts.
Lastly – be passionate!
It is possible to build a brand without passion for it, but you’re unlikely to be able to sustain it for long. If you want your customers to be enthusiastic about your brand, you need to be passionate about your message – if you don’t believe in it, you can’t sell it.
Is there anything else you think makes a brand successful? Please feel free to share your thoughts below.
