What does your brand say about you?

An effective brand can give you the edge in increasingly competitive markets. It is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.

Branding is so much more than applying a logo in a consistent manner and using the right Pantone colours. Every form of communication should be pulling in the same direction, whether visual or tangible. Your communications should look and feel very similar, a bit like a uniform. Without the similarity you run the risk of losing your prospects and customers trust and loyalty because they can’t recognise, and then pinpoint communications back to you.

How can you develop your branding? A starting point.

Your logo should appear in a similar way on all marketing material and you should utilise the same typeface in all written communications (even email). It's a good idea to choose a small selection of colour ranges for your marketing material and you should always try and apply design styles consistently. Reinforce key messages in the same voice – the tone of your copy, put more of an emphasis on your key terms and the benefits of your services / products through repetition, but make it appealing (what do your prospects want to hear? We can save you time / money, etc).

Essentially, your material should present itself like a family – supporting and looking similar to each other.

But don't forget about other key areas:

If your staff need uniforms, make sure they match your company colours and have your logo printed on them. Branded promotional items should also reflect upon your services / products and your customer base, for example, it would be more beneficial and suitable for a web designer to giveaway branded mouse mats rather than umbrellas! Is the quality of your print up to scratch and does it look as good as your products / reflect the standard of your services?

Think long-term

With branding you need to think about the bigger picture and see it as being a long-term necessity, but start as you mean to go on. The core message of all successful brands never really changes and the leading brands are usually leaders because they have years of consistency under their belts.

The key is to have in place a very clear idea of what your brand is and how you will consistently communicate it. Why not start by writing the core proposition of your brand on a piece of paper and then put it in a prominent place where you will see it daily, next to a tick list of your achievable branding goals?

What does a logo say?

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Your logo is often the first thing that a potential client will see of your company. First impressions count!

Logos can say many things, traditional, modern, classic, stylish, kitsch, cheap, feminine and masculine and so on.

Traditional may be seen as old fashioned, classic is a longer lasting style that will not date over time. No style will appeal to everyone. You need to think about your target audience, their age range, gender and location will all give you an insight into what style you need to portray.

Companies often develop their ideas over many years. For example Nike didn’t start off as a swoosh. The word Nike was included in the logo for many years. It was only once the brand was very well established that they dropped the wording.

If you look at Sony, they have changes the thickness and spacing of their logo over time too. You don’t always need to redesign you can update.

If you have a complete redesign you may alienate your existing customers, an update will often work better. Branding development indicates that you are a forward thinking company, not sticking with the old just because you have it. Move with the times and appeal to the maximum audience that is possible.