Let’s make it bigger.
Can you make it the same but in pink / yellow / blue / green?
Dekh ke maza aana chahiye!
If you have given or received such feedback, you know what we are going to talk about today.
Yes, LOGOS! Every time there’s a conversation around brand building, the first thing that comes to mind after a brand name is the logo.
Discussions over logos notoriously take over branding meetings, leaving precious little for the other crucial aspects of business promotion and advertising. And it’s time to realize that … a brand is more than just its logo. A brand is a living entity that walks, talks, grows and influences the people around it. Wish to know what makes your business a brand? Scroll down!
Your brand must have a PURPOSE
So, what does your brand deliver? What does it want to be? Who does the brand speak to? Who should sit up and notice the brand? How would your ideal customer describe your brand? If you never asked these questions about your brand, then you must NOW.
For instance, your business might be that of making artisanal chocolates; but what it actually does as a brand is provide joy to the consumer, the experience of enjoying a delicious treat. That is the actual purpose of the said chocolate business.
Similarly, every brand has its purpose, a problem it solves, and questions it provides answers to. By defining this PURPOSE, the mission and vision of your business is formed. And this should be the first step you take in the process of branding, even before you think of a logo.
Your brand has a PERSONALITY
If your brand was a person, who would it be? How would he/she dress, what would be their favourite food, in which language would they talk? These questions help you define a personality for your brand. And when your brand has a personality, it is able to connect with the kind of people it wishes to serve.
So, how do you want your brand to be?
Approachable, genuine, validating and emotional, having an impact on the customer every time he/she engages with it.
Basically, MAKE YOUR BRAND HUMAN. To come up with a personality for your brand, you must…
- First consider the purpose and the message you want to convey.
- Study your competition and think of what will make your brand stand out from them.
- Come up with adjectives and phrases that describe your brand, like, Sophisticated yet Rugged, Intellectual but Street Smart, Honest and Friendly.
See what we did there? This is how you define your brand’s personality.
Use VISUALS to convey your brand’s PURPOSE and PERSONALITY
What comes into your mind when you visualize a 3-pointed star inside a circle? Mercedes, right? What comes to your mind when you imagine the colour red? Coca Cola, Ferrari, KFC…. You get the drift.
Once your brand’s purpose and personality is defined, it’s time for strategy on how to convey it to your existing customers, and the ones who could become one in future upon engaging with the brand.
A strong visual element is important for every brand, to leave an imprint on its customer. And for this, you must pick an attractive colour palette, an identifiable font family and graphics that support the brand’s persona. These visual elements like colour are the silent ambassadors of your brand.
Your brand has its own VOICE
Now, this is where the language comes into play. And no, we aren’t just talking about linguistics here. But the conversational style of the brand, the way it speaks to its consumers.
The purpose and personality comes into the picture here again, as they decide the style in which the brand will talk. Is your business providing facts to its end user? Then the tone of the brand is going to be informative and very formal, like Encyclopedia Britannica.
But at the same time, a brand named Diply Facts on Instagram does the same thing, but its language is polar opposite to Britannica. Why? The audience, their age groups and the purpose behind the end product is different from each other.
While the former is used by students, academicians and writers for educational purposes, the latter is used by a younger, casual audience for informal activities like sharing with friends on social media.
Now that you know that building a brand goes much beyond creating a logo, simply hiring a graphic design or logo design company to create one is not enough. You need a creative agency that specializes in branding. Wondering where to find one? Click here to get in touch and start a conversation with us at Flora Fountain!
