A Strong Brand is Powerful!
We are all exposed to branding from a very early age. In fact, according to Psychology Today, each of us is subjected to anywhere between 3,000 and 10,000 brand exposures daily. As kids, we start to recognise brand marks before we learn how to read, and as we grow older brand preference become even more prominent. We all get swept up in brand promises and expectations and before we know it, we become willing to transact with certain brands regardless of whether we can actually afford it or not.
Why is Branding Important for your Business?
You only have to reflect on your own experience with branding to understand its power and the crucial role branding and a good branding strategy, therefore, plays in any business.
Its hold great value for both business owners and consumers:
For you
- Conveys your vision, mission, and values to your clients; that is, your qualities, strengths, and ‘personality’ of your business
- Identifies and distinguishes your business from others
For your Clients
- They know what to expect from your product or service
- Makes your business memorable in a sea of competitors
- Creates trust through consistency and dependability
For these reasons, branding should be reflective of what you want to achieve with your business, and it should be clearly defined. It should be the ‘tool’ you use to extend your message or promise into all aspects of your business, whether that is staff training programs, your customer service, or your advertising campaigns. Aligning your vision with your brand and positioning your brand so that it gains the trust and preference of your target audience, holds the key to any business’ growth and success.
Conduct your Own Brand Audit
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Are you having sleepless nights about defining a brand that represents you and your new business' vision?
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Or perhaps you are restless about your existing brand? Has the way you conduct your business now surpassed your brand promise?
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Or perhaps you are just curious about how your current branding is holding up?
Then this is for !!!
The Psychology of Branding
If you want your brand to talk to your customers, you first must have a clear understanding of who your ideal customer is. Creating a strong brand involves in-depth market research to work out why customers should be attracted to your business. You need to understand their needs and desires to be able to use your brand to play a role in their emotive decision-making processes when they are choosing between different service providers. According to Peter Noel Murray (consumer psychologist) :
consumers evaluate brands mostly based on emotions rather than information or facts about the brand,
so understanding what you can do to sell/advertise emotively, is pivotal to a successful branding strategy.
Brands Give Identity
There are strong indications that we as consumers construct our identities and present ourselves to the world through the brands we choose. It becomes part of who we are and how we view ourselves and others. It is, therefore important to ensure that your brand resonates with your customer’s identity, otherwise, it is unlikely that they will be inspired to be part of your brand tribe.
There are many factors that play a role in developing an emotive brand that your consumers can identify with, and many of these can be considered and re-considered as part of an existing brand or re-branding strategy. In a saturated market where competition is fierce and it is hard to become and remain a supplier of choice, considering and re-considering your brand values, mission, and vision and aligning it with the needs of your consumers is the key.
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To leave an impression in your consumer's mind, your market presence has to have a consistent theme. This often starts with the creation of the following in line with your brand identity guidelines:
- Logo Design
- Stationary Design (Letterheads, business cards, compliment slips, Powerpoint Presentation slides etc)
- Marketing Collateral Design (Pamphlets, Flyers, publications etc)
- Products and Packaging Design
- Apparel Design (e.g. logo prints on uniforms)
- Social Media Design (Banners etc)
We have processes in place to help with the creation of a brand identity to suit every budget. If you want it to be more than just a pretty picture in your favourite colours, contact us today to get started.
Brand Refresh and Rebranding
Although a brand refresh is not the same as a brand re-design, both can provide a welcome makeover for your business. If
- your sales are stale and a shift in perception is required; or
- you are planning for growth, perhaps moving into a new product line or service section,
it could be an opportune time to revisit your brand identity. Sometimes a simple colour or font change can have the desired effect - other times you might want to consider refreshing the brand identity, messaging and the marketing program completely.
It is not always clear whether to just shift the look or whether to initiate a visual transformation, so contact us if you need help. We've also put together a handy questionnaire to help you decide how to proceed, so download it here.
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