A brand is an identity created to tell a story, evoke a feeling and create a relationship with consumers. It’s what we all remember and relate to. Think about some of the biggest brands in the world – technology giant Apple, soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola, apparel retailer Nike – and how each of them has carefully curated a global identity that you can visualise unaided by sensory cues.
We even verbify some of the most popular household brands. You clean your home with a Hoover, you FaceTime your friends and when you have a burning question you just Google it. But how do brands craft such a compelling brand identity?
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The power of branding
The branding process is key to a successful brand identity. This encompasses everything from how the brand looks and how it sounds, to how it is perceived in the consumer’s mind. It includes the logo, tagline, typography, colour palette and tone of voice.
It’s “a set of visual assets, stylistic choices, and other resources that combine to form a cohesive image” (Adobe). It’s the relationship between all of these identifiers and how they’re translated across everything the brand does.
Successful brands craft an identity and live by it. They know how to stay at the forefront of consumers’ minds and understand the importance of it in order to stand the test of time, by evolving the brand to remain relevant whilst staying true to its original purpose. And that brings us to the movie the whole world is talking about: Barbie. The founder of the brand, Ruth Handler, stated that its original purpose was the ‘inspire the limitless potential’. So, how did Barbie owner Mattel reinvigorate a 64-year-old brand?
In a few words? With a genius marketing campaign. And it wouldn’t have been possible without the already well-established Barbie brand. From Twitter hype to intriguing cast posters, the campaign sparked increasing interest in the live-action feature starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. But what really shows us the importance of branding, is the billboard.
Why do I need social SEO?
Algorithm has been the buzzword of the century. But you shouldn’t solely rely on this to reach potential new followers and customers, which is where you’ll benefit from implementing social SEO. You want to be ranking high in the search results on at least one of your businesses’ preferred methods of social media. Whether that be Instagram, Facebook or TikTok, there are different tactics you can deploy to increase your social SEO.
Once you do this, you’re on the right path to growing your social channels and getting your content seen by the right audiences i.e., those who are looking for the type of product or service that you offer. And you can start right now by doing some social admin.
*If you look close enough you might be able to make out the date of the film’s release*
At first glance, this is a giant, bright pink, empty-ish billboard. But we all know it’s Barbie, right? Yep, that’s the importance of branding. The Barbie pink colour and typography are such well-known identifiers of the brand, that you don’t need to be a direct consumer to know what it is. This billboard tells us when the Barbie movie is being released without really telling us anything.
The full campaign illustrates how integral crafting a distinctive brand identity is to the success and longevity of a much-loved brand. The colour palette and typography are the focus of the campaign, illustrating how the core components of a brand can drive a narrative forward and trigger an emotive response, in this case nostalgia and excitement.
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Crafting your brand
So, how do you create such a strong brand? As we’ve established, successful brands like Barbie, Apple, Coca Cola and Nike take a loooong time to craft. But they had to start somewhere, right? So, you should start mastering the basics now.
Before you can even start to identify your target audience, you need to put in the groundwork. You’ll need to consider how the brand should be perceived, how it should ‘behave’, where it sits in the market and why it’s better than the competitors.
A brand workshop can help you to dig deeper into the heart of the brand and discover that all-important original purpose. Get in touch to discuss your workshop with us on 01782 618324.
Once you’ve discovered the core elements, it’s time to delve into who your target audience is and how you want them to perceive your brand. This part covers the mission and vision statements, brand narrative and core values, tone of voice and visual identity. And finally, a brand bible that your whole team can live by.
We delve deeper into each branding stage here. Or you can build you brand with the support of our specialists. Contact us on 01782 618324 or info@starbots-creative.co.uk to get started.
