Brand identity: build your brand identity

The second step to create a winning brand online and offline

In the latest installment of this new column on branding and rebranding of a brand, we focused on brand positioning, or rather on the activities that need to be carried out to position a brand in the market. The second step in establishing a company online and offline is called brand identity and, as the name suggests, concerns brand identity. What does identity mean? And how to develop an authoritative, modern and captivating identity? The answer cannot be exhausted in a few lines. Brand identity is a broad concept, which affects graphic, textual and other aspects. Talking about image would be misleading, because brand identity is something more than just image. Let's think, for example, of a famous multinational like Coca Cola. The brand identity of Coca Cola it is not reduced to the logo or the payoff, nor is it the sum of these two elements. Drinking Coca Cola, and therefore consuming this product, today means living an experience of unmistakable taste and style. And this is where Coca Cola beats the competition!

Oh yes: because if your brand simply exists without a brand identity worthy of the name, you will hardly be able to distinguish yourself from other businesses that are more engaging and dynamic than you. We could bring you a thousand examples of this kind, not necessarily of international scope. The question is not how big you are, but how and what you can communicate to your audience. Do you present yourself as an old-fashioned hotel that only rents out its rooms, or have you been able to evolve into an eco-friendly family hotel open to tourism of the future? Does your store continue to retail with the same sign as always, or have you understood the importance of offering your products online through a well-designed ecommerce? These are questions that everyone should ask themselves, from the small entrepreneur employed as a craftsman or trader to the managing director of a large company. So let's figure out together what steps to take to create a brand identity with all the trimmings.

ENHANCING THE BRAND WITH TRANSVERSAL ACTIONS

The brand is not the label on your wine bottles. And neither will the advertising graphics of your sponsored ads. It is not the website, and it is not the presentation video of the Youtube channel. The brand is the value perceived by customers through all the channels and means at your disposal. Valuing the brand is therefore an objective that can be achieved by working on multiple levels and involving multiple specialists.  These levels include:

• Logo: original, innovative, understandable and above all consistent with what you offer.
• payoff: the phrase that condenses the identity of your company
• Naming: the name with which you have chosen to introduce yourself to the public. Be careful because it does not necessarily have to coincide with the name with which you are registered with the chamber of commerce!
• Design: colors, font style and other elements that help customize your brand visually
• Contents: institutional pages, articles, infographics, ebooks and material produced over time to tell the story of the company
• Social media: activity of your brand on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn…

From this first, short list, a fundamental point can already be deduced: in order for a brand to have its own specific identity in the digital age, it must be active and proactive. Impossible to wait with folded hands without taking action. Much better to demonstrate that you care about your story, your offer and your audience, by keeping alive - for example - a blog, a newsletter or a Youtube channel. A brand is recognizable to the extent that it does its utmost to respond to the curiosities of the public, feed word of mouth and convey certain values ​​and ideals day after day. But this is only part of the matter.

DEFINE A CLEAR AND SHAREABLE VISION AND MISSION

To have a unique brand identity, being active and recognizable is not enough. Continuously posting updates on social networks, posting videos on Youtube, launching promotional campaigns offline, participating as sponsors in events... all of this risks turning into a mere show of muscles if it hasn't been defined a precise strategy. In the corporate structure, the strategy is configured in terms of vision and in terms of mission (or again in terms of philosophy, often used as a synonym). The vision coincides with the company's prospects, its idea of ​​development and business, in short, it is a projection of oneself into the future. The mission, on the other hand, is the purpose of the company and represents the reference parameter or the guideline for acting on the market. In the Coca Cola example, the mission is:

• “Refresh the world”…
• Inspire moments of optimism and happiness…
• Create value and make a difference

While the vision is a nucleus of essential points including for example:

• People: to be an ideal workplace, where people are inspired to give their best
• Portfolio: offering quality beverages that anticipate and satisfy people's desires and needs
• Partners: nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers and create mutual and lasting value together

It is easy to see how the Coca Cola mission and vision are not only clear but also shareable by a large portion of the public (who wouldn't want quality drinks or moments of optimism and happiness?). It goes without saying that any reasoning on brand identity must arise from a previous reflection on the company's mission, vision and values. What goals do you want to achieve? With what approach? By creating what expectations in the end customer? Building brand identity it will be a decidedly less artificial and easier operation than proceeding by trial and error.

In the next chapters we will go even further into the topic, examining the so-called brand strategy and therefore the various points of a successful promotional strategy. Keep following us!