Branding Your Identity
A brand’s identity is like a person. Like a child, its
identity matures with age. Changes are often subtle and sometimes
radical. The identity of your company, product, or your service
is its core essence. Like the child, it grows and develops over
time. How you position your company will be the name, the logo
and the tag line (e.g., the brand name Nike has the arrow as
the logo and the tag line “just do it”).
Your signature is the combination of the logo, the name, and
the tag line. Your business card, letterhead, envelopes, product
labels, menus, and advertising (including your website and signage)
will all project your image.
Once your identity is established, you will build your brand
through marketing related activities, such as advertising, social
networking and promotions to capture your audience. Your company
will at that point be branding your identity in the minds of
the consumers you choose to target. As trends come about and
perception’s fluxuate and change, so can your image vary
over time.
Positioning, on the other hand, communicates your intent regarding
which audience to target and what your business is about. The
purpose of branding and positioning yourself is to help people
remember who you are. Your purpose is to get consumers to gravitate
towards something they desire that you have to offer.
Your next step in this process is to think about the language
including which buzz words you will use to explain what it is
your business does. This “elevator pitch" is a 30
second speech (a short elevator ride) that tells what it is
that you offer. It’s important to develop this as jargon
free as possible. Any individual should understand exactly what
is it that you do. A two-sentence statement is ideal.
When making these choices, it is crucial to know what your
competition is saying. What do they look like, and how do they
describe their services/business?
Do you want your image to be friendly, pleasurable, magical,
customized, procedural, clean and crisp, luxurious, pampering,
soothing, tropical, proactive, etc? What is it that you want
your potential clients to think about so that they will in turn
want to visit your facility?
Remember, every event, experience, and message that you put
out to the public will affect your image in the eyes of the
consumer.
So with that in mind, you will want to carefully select your
font, color, logo, tag line and the image you wish to relay.
Do you have a local graphic company that you want to work with,
or would you want me to suggest one to you? If you have someone
local, ask to see the kind of work they have done for other
businesses. Regardless of who you hire, make sure that they
use the Pantone system, which is a universal color format.
Of course, we are available to assist you with any part of
the process involving branding or positioning your business.
Hope this helps you get started on branding your image.
Laura Walker
