Creating a Branding Style that stands out:
How does your business stand out from the masses? Attracting new customers is complex, and with every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the community competing for the same dollar, having your brand stand out above the rest is critical.
The old marketing rule of thumb is that a customer needs to see your brand seven times before they commit to a purchase. This concept needs to be updated, but it is still valid. But do your customers recognise your brand? Are you just leveraging one of your products?
Creating a brand style is a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. Your brand style can separate your business from just the products or services you provide and position you as the expert in this field. It can also aid in prequalifying the sort of clients you seek; for example, no-frills vs. stylised branding highlights what end of the market you operate in.
Define Your Brand's Mission and Values:
Understanding the reason behind your actions and having a set of core principles is crucial. When you know your purpose, it becomes easier to communicate your message as you better understand your target audience. To establish your mission, start by identifying your customers' issues and how you are addressing them. A great concept to explore further is Simon Sinek's Ted Talk "Start With Why."
Your mission can be smaller than solving world hunger, but it is critical to you now. What's that big goal you are striving for?
Our mission at Short Story Long is:
"To empower small to medium-sized businesses to master their marketing. We simplify and transform marketing into an enjoyable process, helping clients build their brands confidently through personalised training, innovative strategies, and ongoing support."
Similarly, your values are deeply personal. What do you hold dear? Is it the spirit of teamwork in your organisation? Do you aspire to inspire others or prioritise quality and dependability? It's essential to ensure that these fundamental aspects align with the needs and aspirations of your audience.
Your Target Audience:
If you missed our previous blog post on the significance of understanding your target audience, you can find it at [HERE]… Please take a moment to check it out.
Consider how your mission and values align with your target audience. During my recent trip to Bali, a place I adore, I was struck by the contrast between the local population and the tourists. With a population of close to 4.5 million and an average individual income of less than AU$ 20,000 annually, high-end luxury goods cater mainly to tourists. The narrow and heavily congested roads are filled with nearly 4 million scooters, making it clear that supercar dealerships are non-existent. While this example is extreme, similar variations occur in all businesses. It's crucial to assess your current customer base. What distinguishes your best clients from your least favourable ones? What specific traits set them apart?
Choose Your Brand's Voice and Tone:
When establishing your brand's voice and tone, it's crucial to first understand your target audience. Are you addressing young people who respond well to a casual and friendly tone, or are you targeting corporate clients who appreciate a formal and professional approach?
Your brand's voice and tone should mirror its character. Is your brand known for being fun and playful, or is it recognised for its formal and authoritative nature? Compile a list of descriptive words that capture your brand's personality, such as "friendly," "innovative," "reliable," or "adventurous."
Your brand's voice represents the personality you aim to convey in all your communications. It should be distinctive and easily recognisable. Develop guidelines outlining how your brand's voice should come across different communication channels. For instance, if your brand is known for being playful, it may use informal language, humour, and emojis in social media posts.
While your brand voice stays consistent, your tone can differ based on the context and the platform. Define the appropriate tone for situations, such as customer service interactions, marketing campaigns, and social media posts. For example, a customer service email might require a more empathetic and solution-oriented tone, while a marketing campaign can be more enthusiastic and persuasive.
Document your voice and tone guidelines in a comprehensive style guide. This guide should feature examples of best practices, mistakes to avoid, sample sentences, and detailed instructions on implementing the voice and tone into different types of content. Share this guide with all involved in creating content for your brand to ensure uniformity.
Examples:
Friendly and Casual: "Hey there! Thanks for reaching out. We're here to help you with whatever you need. 😊"
Professional and Authoritative: "Thank you for your inquiry. Our team is dedicated to providing you with the highest level of service and support."
Design a Memorable Logo:
Logos are an integral part of a brand's identity and are crucial in maintaining brand recognition and consistency. Consider the impact of well-known brands and how easily identifiable their logos are. For example, while products such as shoes may seem similar on the surface, it's effortless to distinguish Nike from Adidas due to their logos. Although a simple stylised text logo of your business name can be effective, I particularly appreciate the creativity behind Pictorial Marks. A Pictorial Mark is a symbol-based logo, often the first image that comes to mind when considering a brand. For instance, think about the iconic Apple logo, the Facebook "f," and the Nike Swoosh – each of these is a Pictorial Mark. These logos are especially compelling for established brands as they are instantly recognisable. The visual symbol of a Pictorial Mark can convey the essence and values of a brand, creating a solid visual association in the minds of consumers. Additionally, Pictorial Marks have the advantage of transcending language barriers, making them globally recognisable. Therefore, investing in a well-designed logo, especially a Pictorial Mark, can significantly contribute to a brand's success and identity.
Select a Colour Palette:
Choosing the right colours and tones is crucial for brand consistency. Take Coca-Cola, for example – chances are, when you think of this brand, you picture the vibrant red associated with it. Similarly, Pak'nSave's branding is synonymous with its bold yellow and black. Finding a colour palette that truly represents your brand can be challenging. You can consider aligning your chosen colours with your brand's values, though this could make you look too familiar. For instance, an eco-conscious business might opt for earthy tones such as greens and browns, while an energy company might lean towards bright yellows or oranges as their primary colours.
Consider where somebody will see your marketing. In my previous business, we used bright blue as our primary colour. This choice made our printed signs stand out against the natural backdrops of green and yellow. Blue isn't standard in nature, so our signage was easily noticeable - look at the signs on the highway.
If you need help choosing colours for your brand, Adobe offers a great colour generator tool at color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel. This tool can help you explore complementary, contrasting, or combined colour options that best suit your brand.
It is important to think about where these colours will be displayed. Metallic colours like silver or gold look great on business cards or signs written on the side of a vehicle; however, the effects are very difficult to replicate digitally.
When you have selected your colours, take note of the hex code. The hex code will be shown as a # followed by six alpha-numerical digits. The hex code is essential to maintaining colour correctness and relates to the RGB or RED GREEN BLUE combinations that make up that particular colour.
Pick Appropriate Typography:
When it comes to typography, consider the right font for your company. Just like choosing the right colours, the font selection can significantly impact your brand's overall image. One hard and fast rule regarding professional company communication is never to use Comic Sans under any circumstances.
In addition, it's crucial to ensure that the font used in your logo is distinct from the font used in your regular text. This differentiation is necessary to give your logo its own unique identity.
Typography extends beyond just selecting a font. It also involves considering the spacing between lines, the weight of the text, and how negative or positive space is utilised. All of these elements contribute to the visual impact of your text.
Create Visual Guidelines:
When incorporating images, videos, and graphics into your branding, providing detailed guidelines is crucial. Determine whether your logo should only be displayed against a solid background or can be overlaid onto an image. Additionally, consider the use of a pictorial logo as a bullet point. Establishing clear rules on how visual elements are presented within your branding is essential.
In cinematography, a specific grade or treatment is applied to the edit to maintain a consistent look throughout the film. Similarly, this level of consistency should be maintained in your media, whether it involves using only black-and-white content or subtly emphasising your brand colours in the imagery.
By establishing guidelines for every aspect of your branding, you can ensure that regardless of the content, it is readily identifiable as being associated with your brand.
Branding Guidelines:
Creating Branding Guidelines is the next step after putting in all the hard work. Whether it's in a comprehensive Microsoft Word document or a professionally-designed booklet, your branding guidelines will be a reference for anyone representing your brand to ensure consistency in messaging.
Get Feedback and Iterate:
Start creating your branding guidelines and seeking feedback. While they don't have to be set in stone, they will help you achieve your mission and will likely need to be updated as your brand's values evolve. It's crucial to listen to your customers and make refinements based on their feedback, but be cautious not to change your branding too frequently or too drastically.
And like always... Let us know if we can help you with any part of this.
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