8 Areas to Consider When Exploring What is Brand Identity?

Your brand identity can be broken down into two main categories: your personality as a business and your visual identity, which when strategically aligned best reflects that. When exploring your brand identity, you will need to consider elements that fit into both of these categories to best market your products or services, reach your consumers, and help you to stand out in a crowded market.

In an ideal world, you want your brand to be instantly recognizable and the number one choice for your product and service. To achieve that, you need to consider a variety of areas that can help support a strong brand identity.

The term branding can mean many things to many businesses, but ultimately it’s about how you want to be perceived.

Signs Your Corporate Identity Needs Improvement

When considering what your brand identity is you need to think about what works and what doesn’t. Perhaps you’ve already created what you believe to be a solid brand identity, but it’s failing to hit the mark. Here are a few signs to watch out for which may signal that your brand identity might need an overhaul:

  • Your product and services have changed. They may no longer fully fit your original brand identity and may be at odds with the personality you originally created. Products and services can always change, and this isn’t a bad thing, as long as your brand identity still matches cohesively. You’ll need to consider what your brand identity is in relation to your changing or new product.
  • Your business is going through a time of change or growth. If your business is going through this, then it may be the perfect time for a rebrand or else to ensure that your brand identity fits with how your business is choosing to grow.
  • Your value isn’t being marketed well enough. Having value with your product or service is one thing, but letting others know your value is another. You may know that your product has value, but if your consumers don’t know, then your sales and branding are going to fall flat.
  • You are failing to reach or resonate with your target market. Reaching your target market with a strong brand they can relate to is key to business success. If your brand just isn’t ticking the right boxes with your target consumers, then this can be a problem (and a sure sign that you need to relook at your brand identity).
  • You’re up against new competitors. New competitors are going to be breaking into the market constantly, and while you shouldn’t need to change your brand identity every time you’re up against strong competitors, it’s important to know when a more competitive market is demanding more from your brand.

If your business needs a helping hand with brand identity, branding agency services can be a boon for company design and more.

Perfecting your brand identity doesn’t mean that you’ll never need to re-evaluate or update to fit your growing business into an evolving corporate world, so bear this in mind. They’re always a work in progress that should evolve and mature over time. A brand identity can undergo changes and relevant refreshes at any stage.

Here, we look more in detail at your brand identity.

Eight Areas to Consider When Exploring Your Brand Identity

The following points may help you to better understand what brand identity is and how you can mold your business to fit the image and personality that you’re trying to create.

1. Who Are You as a Business?

How your brand is perceived in the corporate market is all about the type of business personality you have been marketing. Knowing who you are as a business is a solid foundation that will help you make your brand known.

What is brand identity in relation to your consumers? How are they communicated to, and how do they know your brand’s personality? Your brand positioning and success in a busy market can be dependent on how well you promote your brand image.

2. Logo Design

The very best business logos are clear, easily recognizable, memorable, and different from other competitors on the market, while also authentically representing and differentiating the brand. Your logo is a key part of your visual identity; it needs to be able to communicate your business name and values without having to use text or explanation. As a standalone design feature, your logo is going to be very powerful in exploring your brand identity.

Therefore, the choice of your logo design and the brand color palette is key. Your color palette should also work as a communicator and be used consistently in every application.

3. Color Palette

Judgments about businesses can easily be made based on the color palette alone. If it’s not aesthetically pleasing, it can easily put off a new consumer who is browsing your brand website or content. While color, of course, isn’t everything, it should always strive to best reflect your product, your values, and the type of consumer you want to relate to. Color is key when thinking about your brand identity.

4. Typography and Brand Fonts

Font and typography always need to look good, but it’s not simply about choosing a nice font. Typography has a lot of power when it comes to branding and not only because it’s a key visual element. In the same way, your logo is recognizable as your brand, the font and typography you choose is a vital ingredient to your brand identity.

On a practical level, typography should allow for maximum readability and accessibility in all written material, online or offline. A chosen typography and font should allow your users to recognize your brand through font alone. Due to this recognition, the right font and typography will allow your audience to better connect with and follow your brand.

5. Your Visual Brand Language

Visual brand language unconsciously communicate your company’s values and personality through consistently applied graphic and imagery elements. It is extremely relevant in today’s business market due to the reduction of face-to-face business and the growing preference of online transactions. This means that your visual language is going to make a difference in catching the attention of consumers who you won’t be meeting face-to-face.

Using visual language to great effect and assuming your visual identity means exploring diagrams, images, patterns, maps, or anything else which creates a certain level of communication without using speech at all in order to build and foster an lasting emotional connection to your brand. Your visual language can mean a conversation with your customer through image alone.

6. Web Design

In keeping closely aligned with your branded color palette, this should also be consistently applied to your website design. Your logo, color scheme, and web design should fit flawlessly together and be pleasing to the eye — as well as easily recognizable for your brand.

7. Your Business Cards

When exploring what brand identity is, you may not have thought of business cards. A simple thing, but business cards are still relevant in today’s business world. Even if you’re an online business, such as an eCommerce store, you still have the opportunity to include business cards in deliveries, packages, and any other communication.

Your business cards are just another key opportunity to show off your brand logo, design, and message. They’re also a great opportunity to use texture and size to create a more aesthetically appealing business card personality.

8. Extra Finishing Touches

One surefire way to gain an edge over the competition is adding a personal touch, which is always in keeping with your brand identity design. If you have a product delivered, you could add finishing touches with your packaging, for instance. Using visual branding with your packaging can help to solidify your brand, such as using packaging colors that match your logo or using eco-friendly packaging for businesses that maintain an environmentally-aware value.

Concluding What is Brand Identity and How to Build a Brand Identity

Your brand identity should always be unique to you; don’t try to replicate a competitor’s identity, but take what they do and put your own personal twist on it to best promote your brand and your product specifically.

Building a brand identity should always encompass your values, your target market, your unique voice, and your business personality.

If you need assistance building your brand, a dedicated branding agency like Anthem Branding is always ready to help.