Branding 360: Building A Coherent Brand Identity
Branding 360: Facing the challenge of achieving brand coherence is an essential quality when it comes to building a strong identity and creating lasting connections with audiences.
Building a coherent brand identity is essential for the long-term success of any organization and institution. A strong brand with values is not only capable of attracting potential customers and strengthening the brand perception in their minds, but also of creating a lasting connection with them.
When we talk about brand coherence, we refer to the consistency and uniformity in the way a brand presents itself and communicates in the market and on its channels. To illustrate this concept, let’s consider the following example: if a brand is defined as a reference in terms of sustainability, both its visual identity, its digital communication and the people who work in the organization, among other aspects, must disclose this attribute of the company brand.
The term coherence takes on special importance in the field of “branding”, a concept that defines the process of creating a unique and distinctive identity for a brand. The “Branding 360” approach seeks to create a complete and coherent brand experience in all possible dimensions, whether on a visual, emotional, cultural, digital or physical level.
Today, maintaining consistency in branding strategy across all channels and customer touch points is a challenge for many companies.
Do you want to build a coherent brand identity? Below we list the steps you should follow to achieve this.
Table of Contents
Understand Your Brand
To build branding 360, you have to start by defining your brand. This process involves identifying and clearly describing the essential elements that make it up, from the most superficial aspects to the essence and meaning of the brand.
How am I? What is my purpose? What are my values? What can I offer? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself before delving into the strategic aspects. You must remember that in the end, this will be the basis of any action and decision that is going to be undertaken in the company.
Along these lines, in the definition phase, you should also identify the target audience or audience that you want to impact, and understand their desires and needs to resolve them.
Create A Brand Strategy
The strategy must reflect the values, mission, vision and objectives of the brand, and must define its personality, market positioning and differential value proposition.
It is important to be as precise as possible and look for those competitive advantages that could turn us into a differentiated and unique brand that allows us to position ourselves as leaders in the market or professional sector in which we operate.
Design The Visual Identity
Referring to the famous phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words”, the way a brand is displayed says a lot about it. In addition to being the first impact that the consumer receives, it must be attractive and representative enough to convey an emotion and generate a memory.
The visual identity must represent the brand’s way of being, whether through color, typography, logo or a memorable slogan.
Develop Brand Tone And Customer Experience
Do I want to be funnier or more serious? More professional or friendlier? Before starting to communicate with your target audience, it is important to define the way in which you want to transmit your messages through the different channels that you are going to use to attract your audience.
Create communication guidelines that establish how the brand addresses its audience in different situations: from facing a crisis or criticism, to responding to a client or announcing some new information about the organization.
It’s also essential to train teams to reflect brand values and personality in customer interactions. This can also be carried out by activating a brand ambassador strategy or a digital spokesperson program in parallel.
Create Consistent Content And Maintain Consistency Across All Channels
Make sure that all the content you produce, whether on your website, social networks, and blog or offline resources, follows the voice and brand tone guidelines that you have previously defined.
Maintain the same language and the same line of writing in the messages and make sure that they support the brand strategy.
Brand identity must be applied consistently in online and offline formats. This includes social media profiles, marketing materials, packaging and much more.
Constantly Evaluate And Adjust
Building a coherent brand identity is an ongoing process, so it is important to regularly evaluate how your brand is being perceived and make appropriate adjustments and changes to your branding strategy.
Listen to customer feedback and adapt your strategy to their needs and comments.
Be Authentic And Transparent
Establishing a solid brand identity requires authenticity. Always keep your promises and act in accordance with your brand values. Be transparent in your communications and don’t try to be something you are not.
Apple, A Master Of Consistency
The king of technology is an example of how a strong and consistent brand identity can contribute to the success of a company. The brand has managed to maintain its essence and values in recent decades, which has consolidated its position in the technology industry and generated an emotional connection with its customers.
With a bitten apple, a minimalist aesthetic, modern, professional and technological colors, emblematic stores and exceptional customer service, Apple has managed to convey its identity in all aspects of its brand.
Building a cohesive brand identity takes time and effort, but it is essential to building a strong base of loyal customers and succeeding in a competitive market. Consistency in brand identity builds trust and establishes an emotional connection with your audience.
Also read : Efficient Advertising Campaign