What is a brand identity?

Your brand identity is the way you present yourself to your customers. Your brand identity encapsulates the core values of your organisation and the reasons why your customers or clients would want to purchase your products or services. When you are thinking about your organisation’s brand identity, consider how you want your organisation to be viewed by customers and competitors. Are you exciting and innovative, or are you stable and dependable? Once you have determined which qualities suit your organisation, your presentation and dealings with customers need to promote these qualities – from your logo, to your website design, product packaging and the language you use to communicate.

What are the main benefits of having a strong brand identity?

A strong brand identity can strengthen your organisation on a number of levels. There are a range of benefits associated with having a clear and consistently presented business brand, including:

• • Branding can improve your brand’s perceived equity. Consider brand name supermarket items such as Coca Cola, and how this corporation is able to charge more for its products than no-name generic supermarket brands. This is largely down to successful branding, and the perception of higher quality that customers have as a result.

• • By creating an emotional attachment between the customer and your product or service, you can increase sales and maintain the loyalty of your current customers. If customers are buying into your brand because it aligns with their personal values or philosophies, it is likely they will remain with you in the long term.

• • Having a strong brand can help unite and motivate employees, and productive loyal employees are a great strength to any organisation. Creating a brand that your employees truly believe in can motivate them to become enthusiastic ambassadors on your behalf.

Having a strong brand identity can benefit your organisation in numerous ways and help you build and strengthen your relationship with your customers. In today’s competitive environment, branding is one of the main keys to success.

How can I strengthen my brand identity?

There are a number of different ways you can strengthen and promote your brand identity. If you aren’t sure where to start here are a few suggestions that might help:

• Create a brand strategy. Having a clear strategy is one of the most effective steps you can take to strengthen your brand identity. A brand strategy helps you determine how you will present and develop your brand across different platforms, and can be a significant part of your overall marketing strategy.

• Integrate all communications so they are in line with your brand. From your logo to your marketing materials, to what your sales staff wear and how you answer the phone, everything that you and your employees do should encapsulate your brand.

• Ensure that all your marketing communications consistently apply the logo, colour palette, typography, photography, graphic layout and also incorporate the consistent use of language.

• Communicate your brand message to your employees as well as your customers. Motivated employees are essential for the success of any organisation. If your employees are aware of your brand message, they will be more readily able to present a consistent corporate image to your customers.

Branding is about more than just logos and websites. If done effectively, creating a strong brand identity can help your business grow, retain your customers, and motivate your employees well into the future.