Brand identity
Defining brand identity is a crucial step in a brand's strategy. But what does brand identity mean and what key elements make a brand unique?
We are happy to explain to you, all you need to know about brand identity and help you make your brand identity truly unique.
What is brand identity?
Brand identity is a component of a brand strategy. It refers to the unique characteristics that influence a brand's personality, appearance and behavior. A brand's identity includes tangible and intangible elements. These include your brand's history, name, visual identity, such as your logo, and corporate identity.
To understand brand identity, it helps to think about what constitutes a person's identity. You can then easily translate the same concept to create your company's brand identity. A person is a combination of elements such as their name, origin, personality, values, beliefs, story and physique. Brand identity works the same way.
The difference between brand identity and brand image
It is easy to confuse brand identity with brand image, but they are two very different things.
- Brand image is how an audience perceives and interprets signals from a brand through different contact moments. In other words, brand image is the view the general public has of your brand.
- Brand identity is what makes a brand unique. It is determined by how the people behind a brand want the public to perceive it. Brand identity comes from the brand itself and is something that you as a business owner can directly influence.
Why is it important to define a clear brand identity?
Companies often overlook the importance of creating a well-defined brand identity as part of their overall marketing strategy, but it is a crucial step.
Creating a unique brand identity is an excellent opportunity to personalize a brand. It allows you to build a strong emotional connection with your audience, largely because you have your brand identity in place.
By creating a unique and distinctive identity, you can truly differentiate your brand from your competitors and build a lasting reputation with your customers.
A clearly defined brand identity brings several benefits, including:
- Uniqueness: Thus, with a brand identity, you understand the unique qualities of your brand and how your brand stands out from competitors.
- Personification and emotional connection: A unique brand identity is a unique opportunity to build an emotional connection with your target audience.
- Consistency: Consistent communication and marketing efforts can lead to better brand recognition; something extremely important when acquiring new customers.
- Clarity: A distinction between core, immutable brand elements and elements that can evolve.
As we mentioned, brand identity is how a brand wants to be perceived by consumers. It differs from brand image, which is how the brand is actually perceived.
Many brands base their identity on what their competitors are doing. This has the danger of causing them to see a brand as an imitation, of another popular brand; a battle that is almost never won by the imitator. Other brands, on the other hand, focus on short-term trends in the market. This, in turn, runs the risk of becoming generic, and missing a clear and meaningful connection with your audience. This can also create problems for long-term growth.
Brand identity is crucial because it gives entrepreneurs and brand strategists the power to choose and build an authentic identity. Brands with a strong identity are confident - they know who they are and how to communicate that to connect with their audience. In short, a clearly defined brand identity gives brands an edge and an increased chance of long-term success.
