Branding is more than a logo; it is the way you are perceived to the world. As Jeff Bezos once said "It is what people say about you when you are not in the room."
Branding is a powerful asset; it brings endless amounts of benefits to your company. Good branding builds your reputation, how a brand is perceived to the world determines how its customers will behave, and the customer's behaviour determines the brand’s performance.
People buy into brands, not products. Cult brands, such as Harley-Davidson or Apple, create a consumer culture that people want to be part of through a unique and loyal connection. Your brand needs to constantly evolve to communicate and interact with your customers; it is so important to connect with your audience's needs and wants, as those change, so should your brand.
How to build your brand
The core of every brand should begin by working out what your vision is. Why are you doing what you are doing? Are you solving an issue or problem? Why are you different to everyone else? Most importantly: Why should other people care? By answering these questions, you narrow down your unique selling point and can discover what may be attractive about your brand.
Next up is defining your personality. What if your brand was a person, how do you sound? How do you act? What do you look like? Who are your friends? By looking at your brand as a person, you can get a better understanding of who you may appeal to and who to target.
It is important to find your niche and use this to target the people that will love your brand for what it is. You can’t be everything to everyone, so don't try too hard to appeal to everyone. The right customers will come if you position your brand to target them.
Once you have a good idea of who you are targeting, it's time to tell your story. Be human and be sincere. By sharing a unique story, this will help your audience buy into your brand through a genuine connection.
Visual elements of a brand aren’t decided until deep into the branding process. Everything visual about your brand, from the colour palette, to the brand's typography, the functionality of your website, to the design of your logo; all is meticulously planned to target the correct audience.