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No matter what market you operate in, chances are the competition is fierce. Countless businesses are started every year across the globe. Granted, not all of them will succeed, but some will. This begs the question: How can you set your business apart from the rest? The answer may not surprise you – it’s all about branding. The importance of branding cannot be understated in the context of a global market with intense competition.
Brand elements define how the customer perceives your brand. A cohesive brand identity is as much a logo and color palette as it is goals and values, and how they are communicated to the public. Understanding and cultivating brand elements can make all the difference in a business strategy, especially in the current market climate.
With that in mind, let's take a look at what they are and how to use them.
What exactly are brand elements?
As stated above, brand elements are the building blocks of brand identity and perception. If you were to ask someone on the street what they think brand elements are, they would probably tell you about logo design and color palette. While logo and color are core elements , they are only a quarter of the equation.
It's a common misconception that branding is all about being flashy and extravagant. And while drawing attention is a key element of a brand strategy, it also has much more subtle aspects. Another important element of brand design is drawing attention to the things you want your audience to know about.
Branding elements are a special kind of communication, in the sense that they are both the message and the medium. What we mean by this is that there is as much meaning in what is shown as in how it is represented. There is coherence between what the message says and how it is conveyed.
Ideally, you want your brand elements to reflect your entire brand experience and thus create that association in the audience's mind.
Why are branding elements important?
Based on the previous point, we can understand that branding elements allow companies to choose how they want to be perceived in the mind of the potential customer. Let’s illustrate this with an example. If you were to see a company that deals with robotics and futuristic technology, and their brand image involved a 1950s newspaper typography and words like “old” and “classic” in their message, you would rightly feel a lack of connection between the company’s purpose and its brand image.
This is an extreme example, but it illustrates how important the choice and cohesion of brand elements are. It also shows how counterproductive a poorly chosen brand strategy could be.
Successful branding tells a whole story about a company and its product. A well-developed brand strategy will tell you the brand's purpose, how it views its products, who they are appealing to, what goals they have, and what their core values are .
It's important for customers to know all of this information because it will help them choose which companies they want to do business with. By setting the right customer expectations and then meeting them, you can ensure that your brand's experience is memorable.
This is why understanding the elements of branding is so important. This is often what will separate a successful business owner from an unsuccessful one. Because branding elements aren’t just about being flashy and loud, they’re about conveying the right message in the right way.
The potential is virtually limitless. As you may know from your own experience as a customer, some companies have developed such successful branding strategies that their brand has become part of popular culture. Think of terms like “Googling” or the fact that just saying “Just do it” probably brings to mind a “swoosh,” or the fact that we even know what a “swoosh” is. These are all examples of extremely successful branding elements, and they help illustrate their unparalleled potential and importance.
Source: iStock
How to use branding elements in your business
Now that we know what branding elements are and why they are important, it’s time for the million-dollar question: How do I use them? To answer this question and develop an effective branding strategy , you need to identify certain aspects of your business.
What is your brand voice? In this context, brand voice basically means personality. Your brand personality will humanize your business and help create an emotional connection with the customer . It is the constant element that customers can always expect when dealing with your company. The type of language, level of formality, and overall attitude that your marketing assets, employees, and products will display.
Next is figuring out the brand identity. Identity may sound similar to personality, but here is a great way to tell the two apart. Think of the brand as a person, their personality is their inner character, how they treat others, the values they have, and how they behave in life. Their identity is how they present themselves, their choice of clothing, their haircut, and how they are recognizable to others. Following this metaphor, brand identity is how the brand becomes recognizable to customers through their logo, color choice, font, and all other visual representations of the brand.
Last but not least is figuring out your brand promise. This is the commitment you make to the customer. This is the reason why they should choose you over your competitors. There can be a myriad of reasons, from ensuring a better price and offering better customer service , to having comprehensive return policies. Your brand promise should be what tips the scales in your favor when the target customer is considering between your product and your competitor’s.
With these elements sorted, you’re ready to move on to the next step and transform these abstract concepts into branding elements.
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9 Key Branding Elements Every Successful Business Needs
After you figure out what you want your customers to perceive, you need to turn those ideas into brand elements that you can incorporate into your brand strategy . Here are the 9 most important brand elements you should consider:
Brand message
Brand message is the corporate branding element that encompasses all other elements. Brand message refers to how the company wants to position itself in relation to its competitors. Market and audience research allows companies to understand what market gap they can fill and who their target audience is. Brand message is the way brands communicate that they are there to fill that gap. Understanding what message you want to convey to your potential customers will further the branding process and help in the decision of all other branding elements.
Brand Purpose
Brand purpose is the defining quality of your company. It is the reason for your existence. Is your brand about innovation and pushing boundaries? Or is it about offering affordable products to the average person? A properly communicated brand purpose can do wonders for your company’s reach. When potential customers discover your company’s design principle, it makes them connect with the brand on an emotional level – it’s not just about the products and services you provide. This makes the customer experience much richer, increasing customer retention rates.
Logo
This is the most well-known branding element out there. The logo is the face of the company and the most recognizable of the visual elements that make up the brand’s visual identity . There is no shortage of iconic and recognizable logos, from Adidas’ stripes to Starbucks’ mermaid. Logos are meant to represent the brand’s values and say something about its purpose and identity and have a design that appeals to the target audience . Being the quintessential part of branding, they are displayed on all marketing material and everywhere from a company business card and the physical product to the company website.
Even when using third-party services like LiveAgent, companies can display their logo thanks to Branding Free .
Brand name
A brand name is right next to the logo in terms of importance and influence. After all, when people see a logo, they need a name to associate it with. A brand name is all about personality and memorability. There are many types of brand names, and each one highlights specific characteristics of the company. Descriptive names, for example, are utilitarian and straightforward, like General Motors.
Evocative names are all about creating an association with something else – think of Amazon as an example. There are also geographic names (American Airlines), founder names (Hewlett-Packard), and historical names (Cadillac) that give a sense of tradition and belonging. Brand names can also be made-up words (Kodak), puns (Reddit), or simple misspellings (Froot Loops). These are some of the types of brand names out there. Ultimately, they all serve one main purpose – to distinguish your brand from your competitors .
Graphics
Graphics, just like logos, are part of a brand’s graphic design. Graphics refer to all the visual elements present everywhere, from the brand’s digital presence to physical branding collateral . Paper texture, illustrations, images, icons – all of these elements come together to grab the user’s attention and tell them a little bit more about the brand, its purpose, and its vision. Every time you see a billboard on the street or receive a marketing email, every design element that is present is what makes up the brand’s graphics.
In the case of advertising campaigns, image elements such as the demographics of the people shown, the activities they engage in, as well as the text in the image and the words that are highlighted, are intended to convey a larger message than simply “buy our product.” They showcase the brand’s values and try to establish an emotional connection with the audience.
Color
Color, along with the brand name and logo, are the three big brand elements that most people are familiar with. Color plays a huge role in our perception of the world around us. Brand color palettes trigger psychological responses from the target audience. It allows brands to further showcase their personality traits to the public – in this case, without having to say a word.
Different colors convey different emotions and even more than once. When we talk about brand color , we don't just mean the main color used in the logo. We're talking about an entire color palette used in all branding materials. When designing a color palette, consider how it will change the public's attitude towards your brand and choose the appropriate color combination .
Guide to emotions by color
Source: DailyInfographic
Typography (fonts)
Another visual element to consider is typography. Just like color, different typefaces can send different messages to your audience. Some may appear more casual and playful, others more elegant, and others more formal. Depending on the brand identity you want to develop, you should choose a typeface that matches. This font will be used across all media, from branding materials to customer service messages.
LiveAgent allows you to use custom fonts and even add them to your email templates , so you can maintain consistency across all channels.
Phrase (motto)
most memorable and unique brand elements . Great taglines stay in the memory for decades and even become part of popular culture. While color and typography may be similar between different brands, taglines allow companies to showcase what makes them unique. Not only do they need to be in line with the brand identity, but they should also highlight its most important aspects. Just like brand names, taglines can be clever, funny, poetic, or pretty much anything you can imagine, as long as they are not disconnected from the rest of the brand strategy and brand experience. There are virtually no limitations when it comes to creating a great tagline, as long as it is unique, memorable, and integrates with the brand identity.
Tone of content
Content tone refers to the vocabulary, style, and mannerisms that brands canada whatsapp number data use when connecting with their customers. This includes social media branding, newsletters, customer service messages, and more. Consistency in tone is critical, especially when it comes to customer service. Customers can recognize your brand by the tone of the content you display in every communication. That’s why email formatting, predefined messages , and even a knowledge base are necessary to ensure that the tone of the content is consistent.
Examples of brand elements
Branding elements is a complicated topic, and while definitions are necessary, it all makes sense when you look at some examples. Let’s look at some marketing strategies and how they translate into branding elements.
Airbus
Airbus es una de las mayores corporaciones aeroespaciales del mundo. Su logotipo es el nombre de la compañía en mayúsculas y en color azul oscuro. Teniendo en cuenta que se ocupan de la tecnología aeroespacial tanto en la industria de defensa como en el mercado comercial, la elección de una fuente robusta y el color azul parece apropiada. El azul se asocia típicamente con la confiabilidad y la fuente le da a la marca una sensación de solidez, lo que la convierte en una marca muy fuerte.
