Business is more competitive than ever and marketing budgets have never been tighter. and see how it can stretch your advertising spend, build customer loyalty and raise your products, your image and your sales figures above those of your competitors.
Building your brand
Every product has a unique selling point, its USP; it may be the taste, it may be provenance of the ingredients, it could be the styling or it could be how fast it goes from 0 to 60mph. But in today’s markets, that won’t be enough. Your product needs the help of a brand identity to make it instantly recognisable. Consistent use of a strong logo or logotype, the brand name and associated colours on everything from packaging and advertising to stationary and corporate signage will quickly translate into brand recognition within your target customers’ minds.
Branding with a message
You don’t have to give your logo a lot of thought and you could choose some small random image to represent your brand – but this would be a weak logo. A professional logo designer will be able to come up with a concept for your logo and your branding that will carry a message about your core values; most large corporations now find a way to incorporate an ethical trope into their logo and the communication of their branding. Good examples of this the IBM Smarter Planet logo or the Coca-Cola Live Positively logo. This allows you widespread coverage of your ethical credentials without constantly preaching about them. And in today’s world more and more consumers are taking an interest in the ethics of the companies from which they purchase.
Successful branding strategy
Building a corporate brand that carries real value over time takes more than a logo redesign and a fresh colour scheme. Branding is the creation of a unique identity for your company and your products; it is the creation of a corporate persona and so consistency of character must carry through to every sphere of your business activities. Building a strong brand involves managing the perceptions of your customers and target customers. Not only do they need to recognise your logo, they need to trust your brand. This identity represents the face that your business shows the world, so it must reflect what you want them to see. For example, think of a brand like HSBC: it uses the same logo, corporate colours and advertising slogan wherever it is in the world. But finding something that works so universally needs careful consideration.
How your company can benefit from a strong brand
It will take time, money and effort to build a really strong corporate identity for your business. However, if you get the mix right, your investment will be fully justified by how much a strong corporate brand will do for your business. People are more likely to buy from a brand that they trust, and they are more likely to trust a brand that they know. A simple, consistent identity sticks in the mind and acts as a touchstone when it comes to the purchasing decision.
Once you have a strong brand and good recognition, you will find that it rationalises your advertising and marketing spend – you’ll be able to let your logo speak for you. In a global marketplace the right brand identity can inspire massive loyalty with consumers And some logos can become cultural icons in their own right. You need examples? Look at Apple, Coca-Cola, Disney or Nike. These brands, quite literally, have fans. These are corporate identities that have monetary value in their own right.
So if you are about to set up a new business or re-brand an existing one, it will pay to think long and hard about your logo, your brand and your corporate identity. It might not be easy but it is something that you want to get right first time. Our advice to you? Take some advice from an expert in the field.
(c) Alchemist – professional logo design specialists agency in London, UK.