The Power of Branding: How A Strong Identity Can Transform Your Business

Going against conventional wisdom, companies do not merely sell products. They sell experiences, feelings, and ideologies. That is the power of a strong branding identity.

Businesses with intuitive branding, like Starbucks, know exactly what kind of customer experience they want to project as soon as people walk through the door. Being able to control the purchasing experience at this level displays the grand power of a branding agency.

Today we are going to look at how to cultivate a solid brand identity in order to transform your business.

What Is A Brand?

As much as we throw this term around, the word “brand” can mean so many things.

Brands clarify what a company stands for and why it does what it does. They are an effective way to communicate vision through images, stories, and shared experiences. Ultimately, a brand is the sum of how a product or business is perceived by those who experience it—including customers, investors, employees, and the media—and becomes the process of shaping these perceptions.

Simply put, a brand is more than a logo. It’s the feeling that comes from who you are and what you represent. So, when a customer decides to grab your product, they know it means something to them and everyone else around them. Almost like a social status that can be physically personified through the product.

Let us take Starbucks as an example. They were a company that started out trying not to be your average fast-food chain, focusing more on the customer connection that you get from your daily cup of coffee. It was handcrafted right in front of you, by baristas that knew you by first name when you walked through the door. They often used to say that one sip could cultivate a community by being the “Third Place” for its customers. Meaning, after home and work, the next best place to go for community and growth would be your local Starbucks down the street. Now, they are a worldwide, multi-billion-dollar company, that has evolved into drive-thrus, and quick-make processes, however; they never lost that initial feeling they founded themselves on. Every time you grab a Starbucks coffee cup, it symbolizes so much more.

Creating Influential Brand Identity 

Okay, so you know what a brand is, but how do you give it an identity? It all starts with rebranding your idea to consumers. The process of branding, culminates research about vast topics, developing new ideas that gratify the brand, all while applying distinctive features for your organization.  

Influenced by Hubspot, here are some basics of the brand identity creation process:

1. Determine your target audience.

§  Before branding can lead to awareness, recognition, trust, and revenue you must understand where it comes from—or who. So, who will you be speaking to with your brand? Who does your product serve? Who is the ideal customer? Why did you create your business in the first place? What you learn about your target audience will influence how you work with your brand. This is the first priority.

2. Establish the mission statement.

• You have to show what your business has to give through passion and purpose. Much like a manifesto, it will encompass why your organization exists and why people should care!

3. Define who you are—values, features, and benefits.

• Time to focus on you. Is there something you have that makes your idea stand above the rest? It is always a good idea to jot down a list of what makes your business so unique. But make sure you focus on services and what you have to offer, not appearances. 

4. Create visual assets.

• Now we can move on to the fun stuff. This includes visual design, your logo, color palette, typography, iconography, and any other visual component. This is the way your brand will be perceived by consumers, so have fun with how exactly you want to be seen, and remember that they (the target audience) need to like it too! Social Media plays a huge part here, and Treebird knows how.

5. Find your voice.

• This is how you will communicate to your consumers. Imagine you are speaking directly to them. How do you want to sound? This ultimately depends on what you are trying to market, but cultivation is key. If you aren’t captivating, then no one will listen.

6. Market!

• Once you finish designing a brand that feels complete, it is time to get it out there. Branding can only work if you do! Pay extra attention to how your brand is displayed and how customers feel about you. Marketing can be a self-made process, but most of the time you might need a little help tackling all the side streets surrounding media.

• An exceptional example of a marketing company that focuses on maximizing brand performance for target audiences is Searched Marketing. They provide SEO digital marketing services that help you rank higher on digital service platforms like Google through a collective of seasoned team members. 

Treebird Branding Power 

For Treebird, a brand is an expectation. No matter the scale of the idea, strong brands should first establish and then fulfill or even exceed that expectation. So how can we help you build a brand that does this? Our goal is to help you achieve single minded-ness. The narrower your focus is, the stronger your branding will become! And to, of course, own a word in the mind of your own prospects. Together we come close and focus on vision, discard a few illusions, and put your promise into reality!

When you choose Treebird as your branding agency, you get a focused design that captures what’s unique about your business and speaks honestly to your target audience. Take a look at our credo and contact us for more information!