Back in 2019 I started writing about what brand marketing entails and how to do it right, if you are not a marketer. With the pandemic and the workload I had the past 2 years, I didn’t manage to continue that blog series. Alas, you can rejoice – part 2 is here and we will be focusing on brand identity.

In part 1 we discussed briefly about brand architecture, planning, and archetypes. We also touched briefly on what criteria a brand strategy entails:

• Purpose 
• Vision 
• Values 
• Mission statement 
• Value proposition 
• Positioning 
• Personality
• Audience

After all of the above are considered, as a marketer you need to start building your brand identity. A brand identity is the crest and its elements are the triggers for the customer to remember you in the marketplace. Brand identity is essential for the differentiation, authenticity, and positioning of the brand. Elements that need to be considered for a clear and cohesive brand identity are:

• Name
• Strapline
• Logo
• Mascot (on occasions)
• Colour
• Typography
• Aesthetics

The above list is what the majority of business people who don’t know about branding focus on. It is the easy way to understand branding without doing the strategic legwork. It is, however, dangerous to focus only on the brand identity part of a brand as all of the above list is rather objective and can change per person.

Brand name

I remember when we had a discussion with my manager who I introduced in the first part of this blog series. We were considering a new product offering that had to do with data analytics and, silly me, I asked where it fits within our brand hierarchy with our other offerings. Radio silence. The thing he jumped on straight away to fill in that silence was the brand name and kept wanting for 2 people to brainstorm the name without an actual product value, or a value proposition, or a target audience, nevermind not having a product yet. In my eyes, we wasted one hour in a call trying to figure out names for a fantasy offering for when it is going to be ready, if we ever do it. To top this off, any name that he came up with I had to ask justifications, as it did not resonate with what he was telling me he wanted the product to do. “This is another name for a lake up in Canada, which is also called Azure lake, and because we have a partnership with Microsoft and I cannot name the product Azure, I want people to resonate with that and, therefore, I will register the name I just told you.” I can only say I was dumbfounded by the overall approach and, in the end, when he binned all other suggestions that he didn’t come up with, I just had to nod and save myself some time before my next meeting.

So, what we learnt from this brand meeting? That the considerations for choosing your brand name should:

• support your key brand criteria – purpose, vision, mission, proposition, positioning, personality, and audience
• ensure the sound of the name is easy to pronounce
• make sense in different languages and cultures without further explanation – don’t let your customers scratch their heads when they hear your name
• be legally available – check domain names, limited company names, trademarks, social media before you register a name with your legal department

A kind reminder that, if you have to take time to explain your brand name and it does not resonate with your target audience, the value proposition of the product, and the pain points of the customer, then it will not stick in the long run. It is better to let the customer be the clever one instead of you trying hard to show you are clever in your approach. Time is precious; keep it simple, memorable, and to the point.

Brand Logo and Strapline

The logo is the signature of the brand. It promises a brand experience wherever it is displayed. It can come in the form of typography, a symbol, or any abstract form – or a combination of all three. There isn’t really a distinct format for a successful logo. Which means that the brand strategy planned before the brand identity components is the one that will shape things from the back-end (excuse the geeky software pun!). People ask me what it takes for a logo design to be effective in the customer’s eyes, so here are my recommendations:

• appoint a professional – a design agency will always know the components of a logo design and will also create for you a brand booklet with all the brand identity components. Don’t do it internally, even if it is a simple job, unless you have a professional in-house design person.
• ensure the design satisfies key brand criteria – relate to your brand strategy to write a descriptive and clear brief for the professional to follow.
• do not complicate the design – multiple fonts, gradual colours, detailed images, anything that is distracting needs to be removed. Less is more.
• keep the design versatile for different media – you need to test the logo in large and small sizes, in B&W, engraved, hand-drawn; can the customer still identify it? Is it clear enough? Does it look good printed, on mobile, on the website, on an iPad? How do you design for landscape or portrait usage?
• if you can trademark the logo, do it – your goal is to grow into a widely recognised brand that has real value. You don’t want anyone stealing your logo, you need to keep yourself protected and distinctive from others.

As far as the strapline goes, I will keep it short and sweet.

The strapline is a summary of the brand’s proposition in a short, witty, memorable way. It takes skill to summarise the whole proposition of the brand into a strapline and it needs to be relevant to the customer, authentic and straight to the point. I created my own acronym to remember how to do a strapline (yes, I am famous for my book of Violetisms in the department) and it is one of my favourite things to eat:

• Brand criteria
• Repeatable – do people remember it? Will they repeat it? Think of “I’m lovin’ it” as a repeatable strapline
• Indisputable – can it be legally protected? We need it to be authentic, unique, credible
• Emotional – we need a positive emotional experience from the strapline

Mascot

Name me mascots of a brand you like under one minute. Let me go first: Tony the Tiger, Ronald McDonald, Michelin man, the laughing cow, Mario, Mickey Mouse, Colonel Sanders.. the list is endless. Now tell me that you didn’t visualise the brand logo or didn’t think of the brand while reading these names.

A mascot connects with the audience emotionally. Not all brands have mascots or need mascots, so don’t feel obliged to create one. In the software industry, however, and especially in the B2B market, a mascot can be helpful as it animates the brand’s attributes and values and can add a vibrant dimension to advertising, exhibitions, and promotions. It also turns an intangible product like software that people don’t understand its complexity into a tangible product, making it easier for the company to explain what the product stands for.

A good example is when I had to promote the automation robot of a legal tech software company I was working for. I went on Alibaba and purchased a red robot that moves and talks. With my product manager retail background, I was able to create a full business case to bring the robot to life, including MOQs, pricing, branding/whitelabelling, and pre-set relevant legal talk recordings. I proposed to put it in a “welcome” pack for new customers, promote it at events, create content and product videos with it, and keep it for cross-labelling for high-end customers. Unfortunately, my manager thought it was a gimmick and dismissed it straight away. In the next event we attended, a couple of competitors had some “gimmicks” they were giving away and one of the feedback at the end of the event is that we needed something at the stand to make some noise and start the conversation about the automation robot. I guess the “gimmick” approach worked, just not for us.

Brand colour

People recognise colour faster than they read text and distinguish hues at greater distance than hearing some spoken words. Colour is instant. Some brands have their own hues like Coca-Cola. This is how they own the space in our minds as their customers.

Choosing a colour for the brand can be symbolic, personal, or psychologically influenced. You just need to think if the marketplace you are in have a symbolic colour they associate with, eg blue in software, and then try to differentiate from that either with different colours or with your own hue. Through colour psychology, you can figure out if that colour fits the brand positioning and strengthens the brand in the eyes of the consumer without any words. Then, go through the logo creation process to ensure it is fit for purpose.

There are a couple of great books on colour psychology that a non-marketer could easily read and understand. One that I definitely recommend is Your True Colours by Catherine Shovlin.

Typography

You can choose Arial or Calibri, quite standard for a secondary typography choice. Ideally, you will find a typeface from outside the default Microsoft Word selection. It might cost a little bit more but it offers far greater scope for individuality and originality. Some tips for choosing the right typeface for your brand:

• think about where the typeface will apply and how it will look – stationery, online, brochures, etc.
• make sure the typeface matches the brand – eg do not choose Comic Sans unless you are a comedian
• ensure that italic/bold/light font styles are easily read
• use contrasting colours for the typeface and background so your message is easily readable
• restrict your choices of typefaces – too many styles can be chaotic for the reader

Aesthetics

How does your brand look and feel? What is the tone of voice? To have a strong brand you need to engage senses and emotions. Yes, it can be subjective when it comes for the last sign-off before release, but it should be the last step of the brand identity and making sure it embodies the core values of the brand strategy.

So now with these tips and suggestions you did the main legwork. But building a brand doesn’t end there. There are many more things that you need to consider to be successful when building a brand. The brand culture within the company is important, from the employees to the physical elements of the organisation. Recruitment will be more successful, if you have a strong brand that everyone in the organisation believes in and lives it daily. Product and service design is a primary concern and central to the business, when most of the brands out in the world treat it as the final gloss solution. And sustaining the brand requires integrity and transparency at every touchpoint of the customer journey and through all media, regardless of whether they are paid or owned. Brand sustainability demands a clear strategic narrative, engaged employees and a shared sense of values between all involved. And just because a lake is named one way and I want to name it that way because I want to be thought as the founder of the brand does not get you far with customers, nevermind with the people you work with.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog, I appreciate it.  If you have any comments, please, leave them below. If you want to send me some feedback on this piece or want to discuss anything else in private, you can email me here.