Brand awareness.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Not happy with your business image? Considering a new look? Then a take a moment to read our brand guide…
Essentially, your brand is you! The image you portray to the world – the reputation you build, your values, market position, mood, appeal, message, products and services.
A strong brand is vital for success in a competitive market. All your work, promotions and activities build with your brand and improve its worth or ‘brand equity’. Equally bad news, unhappy followers or wrong perceptions count against it.
Clear brand strategy
Everything should develop from your brand strategy. What makes your product special? Who do you want to appeal to? What emotions do you want to conjour? Where do you fit in within the market place? Brand strategy is critical to getting everything else focussed and working.
What’s in a logo?
A strong logo is a huge contributor to a good brand. A logo isn’t an organisation’s brand but it is the graphic representation of it. Saying what you do clearly and in a contemporary fashion is a powerful tool.
It’s the first glimpse, a visual focal point, of you. In order to communicate your brand effectively, your logo has to be giving off the right messages.
How are you looking?
Brand guidelines are developed to control the way colours, type and supporting graphics are used. However if the guidelines are not followed things can slip out of control. Once the cascade begins an organisation loses cohesion and clarity – all the benefits of a tight, well-disciplined brand are lost.
As an instant test try gathering up all your published materials, open your website and have a good look at it all on the same table. Is it consistent, controlled, attractive, clearly from one organisation, and giving off the desired impression?
Should you change your logo?
Your logo drawing, colours and supporting lines are the key concerns of a visual branding process. Is the typeface strong and modern/appropriate? Are you clearly communicating who you are and what you do? If you use a graphic, does it actually mean anything? Do you have a mission statement and if so is it reflected by graphics or words in your logo?
Refresh your image
Rebranding may not mean a whole new approach. A great deal can be done to refresh and modernise the look of a logo, whilst maintaining some identifiable anchors to your current identity. A tired brand can be very successfully modernised and polished to become more targeted, contemporary and usable.
Should you change your name?
Changing your name is a dangerous game unless you have good reason such as a bad reputation, a dramatic change in direction or it’s misleading. However it is an important aspect of visual branding and sometimes a name can be ‘moved’ to hit branding targets more accurately.
Thinking about brand issues?
If you are considering strategic branding issues or the upgrading of your visual brand why not start with an informal chat. We will be happy to come and have a detailed discussion without obligation. Get in touch for more information.
Share your thoughts.
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