We look at how to create a distinguishable brand that will give your business stable foundations.
Research the market
What are your competitors doing? What is the demographic of your customer base, and what kind of company will they want to work with? You will want your brand to reflect your audience's expectations so they can quickly associate your branding with your services.
Hire the professionals
It's best to hire the professionals when it comes to drafting and finalising your brand. You may be fortunate enough to have logo designers and graphics experts in-house, but if not, don't leave branding to the amateurs. The cost of professional branding services are cheap when you consider how long you'll be using your logo and associated materials for. Provide your branding team with all of the information you have gathered and engage with them throughout the drafting and finalising process.
Make an Impact
If you're using branding to make your business memorable and establish your reputation, you need to ensure you make an impact. Use colours and fonts to ensure your business sticks in the mind of your clients.
Use your brand
Once you have your logo and branding completed, be sure to use it everywhere. The aim of your brand is to make sure your company is recognised, so use your brand digitally on social media pages, your website and on your online marketing, as well as offline on clothing, shop fronts, custom printed canopies, van wrapping and decals, and everything else.
Synergise with your brand
It's not just as simple as uploading your logo to a few websites. You will want a seamless design throughout all of your company's materials. Ensure that your website, banners, leaflets and other marketing materials use the same colour scheme, font and design choices as your logo and branding, and consider what else you could alter to improve brand synergy. Perhaps you could appear at trade shows and conferences in uniform, with your clothes, your exhibition stand, your gazebo and even your stationary in the company's colours?
Gather Feedback
Like everything else in business, branding can be fluid and can respond to customer preferences, especially in its earliest stages. Brands that feel as solid as granite, such as Coca Cola or Nike, have gone through many iterations of their logos, with early examples looking unrecognisable, and their branding and designs are still continually changing. When was the last time you saw Ronald McDonald?
Build from these foundations
With this strong branding, and with a satisfied customer base that recognises your brand and associates it with quality services, you can build from your foundations and grow from strength to strength. Who knows – maybe one day, your current branding and logo could be one of the most identifiable images in the world!
Steven Carruthers is a branding expert who directs Oxnorth, a leading supplier of gazebos, patio heaters, printed canopies and related products in the UK and Ireland. Catch them on LinkedIn!
