Whether you sell bread or have a multibillion-dollar tech company, the importance of brand identity cannot be understated. It is your greatest marketing asset, and often, it is the key differentiating factor. But the question is, how do you create a powerful brand? How to make it stand out in the sea of companies? And finally, why is branding so important?
The answer is quite complex but not an impossible one. Today we’ll dive deep into the world of brand development. Cover what a brand is, the importance of branding, why you need to create one, and what steps to start the process are required. There’s plenty to cover, so let’s dive in.
What is brand identity - the basics
Before we can talk about why we first need to answer to 'what is brand identity?' So, brand identity is a marketing tool that makes your company stand out. For many businesses, the ambassador of their brand servers their logo. The logo is often characterized as unique messages, color pallets, and design ideas created specifically to represent your mission.
To put it bluntly, your brand is what your people, customers, and competitors see. It is your ultimate marketing weapon, but for it to work as intended, you need to do a lot of work in advance. Most marketers agree that first, you work for the brand, and later it works for you, but before that, you need to put up a lot of work. Therefore, its difficult to overestimate the branding importance in a business context.
Why you need to create your brand
So, why is brand important? There are several reasons you need to build your brand, but most of them boil down to four core aspects: trust, authenticity, value, and marketing. These will help you create a lasting impact on your customers and employees, and here’s how.
Trust — After you’ve created an impactful and powerful brand identity, trust between your business and your customers can be established. This trust will allow your customers to understand what you do and why you do things this way. It will also help you do business with them as they will no longer doubt whether their investment is right. Besides, if your customer trusts you, you can expect them to buy from you repeatedly.
Authenticity — Today, if you try to pitch someone something they don’t need, they will most likely reject the offer. Nobody likes corporate salespeople but what everyone does like is a real human being. Branding helps communicate who you are and why your services or products are good. If your brand communicates your vision effectively, people will naturally be drawn to you.
Value — When it comes to purchases, most of them are emotional and rarely planned. The same can be applied to your brand. People respond to brand messages emotionally. Some hate, others love. If your brand identity process establishes a powerful presence among your competition, then your customers feel as if they are a part of a club. This will position you most firmly and allow you to ask extra for your services.
Marketing — We already said that the best brand identity is the one that allows you to set a positive emotional presence. We also said that your brand is the king of marketing. Now let’s combine the two and see why a brand is important. The more good words you spread, the more referral customers you will get. The more customers you get, the bigger you can grow. It’s a snowball effect that can only get bigger the more you invest time and resources into your brand.
Popular examples of good brand identity
While we can talk about the importance of brand identity all day, a real-world example tops it all. Here are three world-renowned companies that have a powerful brand presence.
Mastercard
Mastercard is a company that lazy people don’t know about. Their logo is iconic in that it is simple but easily recognizable. The red and yellow intersecting circles form an orange middle that signifies unity and harmony between the two. Yet, messaging is not what makes the brand stand out in this case. It is a fact that the logo itself has been changed several times now, but you still remember it. The logo maintains the company’s core identity, as well as it is adapted to modern times. As a result, their brand will easily stand the test of time and will remain not only consistent but memorable for generations. This example shows the true importance of branding.
Netflix
While many believe that Netflix builds its brand through various Netflix-funded movies and series, that is not the case. At least not entirely. Netflix defines brand identity through its logo, a simple letter 'N' that signifies its easy-to-use service. Yet, that isn't entirely the case. It has a strategic value that reminds us why branding is important. Due to its easy-to-remember nature and small scale, it can be placed on just about anything and remain easily recognizable. The logo's versatility allows them to share it on any medium, which is its biggest strength.
Coca-Cola
Perhaps the most popular example of brand identity done right is Coca-Cola. It’s practically on every top brand list, and we aren’t surprised. Every time someone mentions Coca-Cola, you imagine the red logo. But that is only one part of the equation because if you ask the same question during wintertime, you start to imagine the huge truck or the polar bear. It’s adaptable and sends a crucial message: Coca-Cola is festive and relaxing. Virtually all of their commercials are about leisure time and fun, something everyone can relate to.
There are plenty of them, but we hope you get the idea. Companies create a brand identity not to power their marketing efforts but to make them possible. If you start shooting various messages to see what sticks, you’ll succeed, but once a curious customer checks it with your doings, and they don’t align, you’ll most likely never hear from them.
Steps to take when creating a brand identity
Now how to establish a brand identity? Where do you even begin if there’s so much to identity branding? Why is branding important? Well, for starters, the amount of things you have to do is vast, but virtually all guides start with research, followed by integration design, then what to avoid, and finally, design. So let’s take a look at each.
Research
Before communicating with your target audience, you need to identify what moves their fancy. Learn as much as possible about your potential buyers and what you can offer them. Remember that you can’t target them all in the same way. You need to create focus groups if you plan on touching a broad audience.
Integration
So what we mean by integration is your integration into the community you’ve just identified. You can’t just go in and start doing things your way; none will buy it, and you’ll lose all your progress. Your brand should be with the people you want to work and sell to. If that means you should speak a certain way, then you have no other choice.
For example, if your target audience is knowledgeable, then using a niche professional language is better. Yet, if your buyers are easy-going people, make your messaging conversational. Remember, you need to be with your people, not on the side. This means that you should adapt everything, from offline ads to social media accounts to how your staff responds to customers.
What to avoid
Before you jump into the design, you need to know what to avoid when creating your brand. Otherwise, you might lose relevance forever, and no business (or person, for that matter) wants that. So to start, make your messaging clear as day. If your marketing material isn’t understood from the get-go, something is wrong. Make it a sales or informational message if you are selling or informing. Nobody likes to read a blog just to realize midway that they are being offered a product or service.
The second thing to keep in mind is competition. It would be best if you were unique to stand out from the sea of similar companies. And copying your competition is the exact opposite of being unique. Your brand should offer something valuable and different. If you see a winning formula, consider it, spin it, and reimagine it.
Design
And now, for the most critical part - design. Most customers scan your design language. If it’s not up to snuff, expect poor results. It is the central pillar of your marketing and the face you show to your customers. Start with a logo if you don’t know how to create a brand identity around the design.
Your logo is the first thing your customers look at. If you show them a higher-quality box and a box that has a famous brand logo design on it, chances are the branded one will be favored. That’s how things work inside our heads. We associate brand logos with our memories. If you, as a kid, always receive, say, Kinder gifts, the same emotions will be evoked when you buy their products.
The second thing about design is that it should be consistent. You can’t just post yellow logos while using red ones on all other products. People will think it’s fake, a counterfeit. Match your color and shape designs across the board to avoid user confusion.
Finally, document your logo design and create guidelines around it. You are a company so people will come and go, but your brand design should remain consistent. Making official guidelines will ensure that even new people are on the same page. And these statements answer our main question: ‘why are brands important?’ So, if you want your company to grow, make a recognizable brand that includes all the elements mentioned above.
We can help you with Zendesk brand identity development
Over the past couple of years, GrowthDot helped develop several brand identities. Our people are trained to communicate with even the most varied audiences. Therefore, we can explain why branding is so important and help you create your designs.
And even if you don’t need to develop your brand and just want to spread the word in a fashionable way using your Zendesk account, our email branding and theme branding service might be what you were looking for.
Finally, check out our Aarhus and Odense themes if you want a unique theme for your Zendesk account and don’t have the time to create one for yourself. But that’s all we have for now. Be sure to come back, though, as we constantly post articles like this.
