Keeping a clean, consistent brand

We're with the brand

Recently, we have been tackling our branding. We know. Shouldn’t we, a company that specializes in branding, have it all figured out? (Editor’s note: no one has it all figured out). This is work we do, consistently, for others, but sometimes we have to take a good hard look at ourselves.

A brand is an ongoing task. Take a look in the mirror every once in a while. Who we were 2, 5, 10 years ago, at the core, still rings true. But things change. Maybe we got a little funnier (we did) and want to share that spark to connect with similar companies. Maybe our visuals aren’t hitting as hard as we like.

A brand system makes marketing easier and to get there, we have to trudge through the mud of either creating a fully realized brand from scratch or making updates to an existing brand.

You’re a small business owner, maybe even a large business owner. You’re here doing research to improve your business and marketing. We’re itching to share some knowledge to help you.

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What's in a name?

“A brand” is the whole thing: what your business does, who it does it for, and how it does it. Every business contains these things (whether they tend to them or not). The problem is how to tell your audience who you are in a concise and clear way. Specifically, how do you communicate with the people who will actually be using your product or service? What we do is translate this nebulous concept into practical, usable elements for businesses to do just that.

This is called a brand identity.

A brand identity is the system of elements that a business uses continually in all of its materials to represent it as a brand. It includes what you’d expect (logos, colors, fonts, illustrations, taglines, layouts) but also the story of the brand. The feeling, the words (both copywriting and positioning). Communicating in a voice that is specifically yours unlocks a world of possibilities. If you’re consistent, stick to the plan, and mean what you say, then no one else can be you.

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What consistency brings to the table

Why worry about consistency in your brand identity? The challenges of running a business can be daunting enough without worrying about whether or not the green on your website matches the green on your Instagram page. But it matters and you can reap all the benefits.

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Trust

Consistency speaks volumes about trustworthiness.

A brand identity invites consumers to get to know the brand and listen to what it offers. If a brand doesn’t present its own identity in a consistent way, a customer can’t know what the brand’s source of truth is. And without trust, you have nothing (blunt, but hey – it’s true).

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Brand recognition

Okay, it’s a little buzzwordy, but that doesn’t lessen its importance. The first question a consumer asks of a piece of advertising is “Who’s talking?”.

Successful advertising answers the question before a viewer thinks to ask it. They know who’s talking by seeing a color combination they’ve seen before, a logo they recognize, or reading a tagline that’s already familiar to them. Even sounds, voices or a certain style of motion can remind someone of a particular brand. This is what we want.

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Clarity

Riding on the back of brand recognition is clarity. Because the viewer immediately recognizes the brand (thanks to the consistent use of elements from the brand identity) they now have a clear context. The brand elements create a shiny window (shiny enough to think it’s not even there and you run face first into it…just us?) for the audience to view the message through and to set expectations about.

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So, how do I create consistency with a clear brand identity?

We now know that if we consistently use a good brand identity we can achieve trust, brand recognition, and clarity with our audience. The next step is to define your brand identity. Some pieces of it may already exist in some capacity, but if those pieces aren’t easy to find or use, or are vaguely defined, it’s likely difficult to use them with any consistency.

That’s where an agency (like us) comes in. Sounds like a plug (and we’ll take it) but it’s the process itself that sets the foundation. We get to know your business, your industry, and your audience to help you define your brand identity and give you all of the assets you need to keep your messaging consistent across the board.

What a business typically receives by the end of our brand identity development process:

• A complete visual toolkit
  • Logo files optimized and specified for a variety of outputs (print, digital, web, etc.)
  • Fonts specific to your new brand identity
  • Color codes for consistent color use (RGB, CMYK, Pantone, etc.)
  • Photography or visual direction for photography
  • Layout suggestions, output examples, etc.
• A strategy & verbal identity guide to internally evangelize your brand, your story, and your voice, and to shape all outward-facing messaging.
• A better understanding of your business, your partners, and your brand.

Like the best bands and the coolest sitcom cliques, no one expects you to handle all of this on your own. We’re ready for a brand chat if you are.