Why you can't have a brand identity without a brand

When we start building a business we always start with a huge to-do list and one of the things featuring on there is usually branding. “Sort branding”. “Get logo”.

I know that for many people they believe that to be simply getting a logo done so that they can get out there - they might have a bit of an idea of what they want it to look like and some colours in mind and maybe some examples of other logos they like. 

Your logo is just a part of your brand identity. Your brand identity is the visuals. It’s everything that people will see that identifies your business - your logo naturally is the main part of it but that is supported by colours, fonts, submarks, graphics, patterns, image style etc. The minimum you need to start off with is your main logo along with a colour palette and fonts so that you can begin to create a consistent visual presence that identifies your business.

But how do we know what that brand identity needs to look like? Well the clue is in the name -

BRAND.
IDENTITY.

= THE IDENTITY OF YOUR BRAND

Clearly we need a brand first to then give that an identity. So what is this ‘brand’ bit all about? Your brand is the thing that will set you apart from everyone else. It’s everything that is different about you. It’s the way you make people feel. It’s what people will expect from you. Unlike your brand identity it’s not something you see with your eyes - it is seen in the mind of your customers. It is everything they think about you.

Your brand is made up of a number of things. You can go into this really indepth and that is what big brand consultancies are for, but for many small businesses having a simple brand strategy is enough to get going with a solid foundation in place. When I work with people who are starting out or are fairly new in business we use the following steps to create a brand strategy that is enough for them to make sure they really understand what their brand is all about:

1. IDEAL CLEINT
You need to know who you are talking to so that you can connect with them

2. BRAND VALUES AND YOUR ‘WHY’
You have to be clear on what your mission is and the values that are  important to you so that they become part of everything you do

3. MAIN MESSAGE
Bringing everything together into a main message gives you teh clarity to get out there and keep everything on brand

Getting your brand clear to start with makes building your business so much easier. You start off with a solid foundation on which you can build. You have clarity on what you’re all about so it’s much easier to keep aligned to this when you know what it is. Everything you put out there needs to have your brand running through it -  from the way you talk to your audience and the language you use, to the actual content you put out and the decisions you make on how you run your business.

And once you are clear on all of this it will guide you in the direction of what your visuals needs to look like in order to make the impression you want it to make and attract the people you want to attract. 

So make sure you think about your brand first before you think about tHE identity it will go by.

If you’d like to talk to me about how I can help you get clear on your branding and create a brand identity that will give the right impression, just get in touch and we can have a chat.