Why it’s important for companies to have a strong brand identity

You’ve probably heard it before: Brand identity, brand communication, branding, brand this and that. It keeps repeating to the left and right over and over. Well, it’s not without reason.

Captain Jack Sparrow confused over branding.

An SDL study shows that 60% of millennials expect a consistent experience from brands whether online, in store or via phone. 59% of global consumers prefer to buy new products from brands familiar to them (Nielsen). Another example: The Coca-Cola brand is worth an estimated $74 billion, more than Budweiser, Pepsi, Starbucks and Red Bull combined and the logo is recognized by 94% of the world’s population (Business insider).

But what is a brand identity? Or what is a brand? Let’s break it down:

• A brand is defined as a name, product, company, organisation and/or a service. It’s the combined experience of what it offers. Usually it’s a company name such as Google, Apple, Nike or Starbucks. A brand can also be a product, for example Red bull, or a media brand like CNN.
• The brand identity are all the visual elements such as the logo, webite, business cards, product design, marketing products and prints. It also includes name and tag line.
• The brand image is how people perceive the brand and how it performs. It’s about what the brand is communicating: messages, personality, values, purpose, and how people are interpreting those things.
• Branding is the work of designing a stronger, distinctive and possibly unified brand profile in order to make it stand out more on the market and perform better.

A unified brand identity.

Doing these things right can create an extremely powerful effect. It can create stronger customer loyalty and audience that might market the brand for you, simply because they think it’s so great. They will talk about it, wearing t-shirts and showing products from the brand around their communities and channels. This effect is seen in very high-value brands such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft but also in slightly smaller but popular brands such as Reebok, Spotify, Uber and GoPro. If people are passionate about your brand they will keep coming back to it. But how do you get there?

Here are the overall steps:

• Brand strategy. Set goals, visions, market strategies and business plans. Conduct research to find your audience. Figure out what message you want to convey and what experience your customers should expect.
• Brand identity. Getting a professional memorable logo and color visuals, business cards, website and tagline.
• Brand launch. Once you have the previous steps in order it’s time to launch your brand and start creating awareness. Introduce your brand to the world and let it shine.
• Brand management. You need to maintain your brand and keep building a reputation. Social media channels, market promotions and taking part in events are some examples apart from the obvious, keeping your customers satisfied. You need to create trust and value.

The steps behind a brand.

The above process isn’t necessarily linear. It’s a constant work in progress that requires attention and devotion. The most successful companies are working with branding daily and staying up to date with the shifts in the market including social media. They’re engaging influencers and doing youtube videos, blog posts, events and commercials being constantly on the move. If a company is slacking in this field it will be left behind. The market is ruthless and competitive. You don’t wanna be the squire, you wanna be the knight.

So if you wanna build a stronger, more successful business then branding is the way to go. Make sure you get that logo and tagline right. According to Forbes The most valuable brands list (Link) these are the top 10:

Looking at Brand Finance’s annual Global 500 report (Link), the results are these:

As you can see Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft tops both of these lists, and they do it consistently. The reasons behind this are several: They keep delivering new and interesting products, they engage in social media and events, they create high expectations and excitement which they tend to meet and they have memorable logos and visuals, to mention a few. If you wanna build a successful brand, you need to do what they do.

When Apple has launched a new iPhone people have been queuing outside the stores for days. This has not only happened at one time, but several times over. Talk about devoted customers. If this happens, you know you have created a strong brand.

Fans queuing outside an Apple store days ahead of the iphone 7 launch.

We all have our favourite brands. Stop for a second and think about what the reasons are why they are your particular favourites. Are you especially devoted to a specific brand? Why is that? Perhaps it’s the quality, the design, the name, the experience of their products and services? You can be sure that whatever your reasons are they have thought about it, and you need to do the same. Watch what your customers are doing and how they interact with your products and be a part of that. Knowing your market is key. Make people feel like they belong and that they are a part of your brand. Deliver an unforgetful brand experience that no one else does.

About the author: Marcus Segerros is a freelance Writer, Content Creator, Designer, Engineer and Business owner with a double BS and University Diploma Degree in Design and technology.

The UX Collective donates US$1 for each article published in our platform. This story contributed to Bay Area Black Designers: a professional development community for Black people who are digital designers and researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area. By joining together in community, members share inspiration, connection, peer mentorship, professional development, resources, feedback, support, and resilience. Silence against systemic racism is not an option. Build the design community you believe in.