The branding of your brand is what differentiates you from other companies similar to yours and what makes your customers identify you every time you advertise or make a statement. There are 10 elements with which this unique identity is achieved and that is what we will be publishing for you in this series of 3 articles.
The goal of branding, as we explained in our post “Know the 4 elements to build your branding and its impact on your business” is to keep our brand’s image in the minds of our customers. This is so that our brand is the first or one of the first to be recalled when they go to purchase the product line we sell or the service we offer.
In this new series of articles, we’ll discuss the 10 components of branding and how to use them in your business to delve deeper into this marketing idea and comprehend how it influences the growth of your brand.
The first four components of branding—brand identity, brand image, brand positioning, and brand personality—will be addressed in today’s article. The remaining six components will be examined and explained in later articles so you may use them in your company.
Without further ado, let’s look at these first four components and their applicability.
Table of Contents
Brand identity
The first thing to understand about branding is the brand, which is nothing more than the term that people use to refer to our goods or service. At first look, it must communicate information to the public about the business, its principles, the goods it produces, or the services it offers; thus, the brand must be known through an advertising plan that encourages consumers to associate the brand with these descriptors.
Brand identity is how a company is distinguished from competing brands in the minds of consumers. When a brand is accompanied by a logo, colors, or other visual cues, the public may be instantly able to identify it. For instance, in the case of Google, people may recognize and associate its colors, the way its name is designed, or any of its visual cues with the brand. Everyone can tell it’s a well-known search engine when the company posts a Doodle on its home page even if the letters have been changed from their original shape and color. Another example is what happens with brands such as Nike, for example, when we see its logo, we immediately know that it is a famous brand of clothing and sports shoes.
Brand image
Brand image is what people evoke when they see the brand or some of its visual elements. It is the idea people create in their minds and what they expect from that particular brand.
When we see a Ferrari vehicle, we expect to see a high-performance, high-priced vehicle and a famous person as its driver, such as a baseball or soccer player or someone extremely wealthy.
No one would expect a Ferrari vehicle for working-class people, that is not the target audience, nor the image that the owner or the manufacturer wants to give.
That is why the brand image is something that has to be defined from the beginning to foster in the public the exact idea that we want them to form in their mind when they see our brand.
Brand positioning
Brand positioning refers to the position a brand holds in the minds of consumers, what sets it apart from its rivals, and what benefits, actual or imagined, the product gives to the consumer. Even though a product is frequently given unrealistically positive attributes, this shouldn’t be the case in the marketing strategy. Instead, we should be completely honest when introducing a product to consumers so that, when they search for those attributes, they actually find them in the product.
Honesty is one of the qualities that the public appreciates the most since it makes people perceive a product or brand as trustworthy and sincere. This is because no one wants to relate to someone who is dishonest in their relationships with others or who sends mixed messages.
This is what we mean by the concept of a brand promise: that the brand’s memory in the consumer’s mind is developed in a credible way, that it fulfills its promises, and that the consumer will have a positive memory of the brand and want to continue doing business with it because of its sincerity and honesty.
Brand personality
The total of a brand’s identification components, such as its logo, corporate colors, font choices, and social media posts, is its brand personality.
If seriousness is the personality you want for your business, then all the identity components—sober colors, letters without curves, a straightforward logo with little embellishments—as well as the posts and images you share on social media—must reinforce that idea. You cannot include games or jokes in advertising campaigns; an influencer used in any campaign must project a feeling of seriousness and trust.
Modern logos will be used, however, if the brand’s personality is more youthful and upbeat. Young influencers in advertising should be used since they exude vigor. Young individuals might be used by the influencer marketing company in amusing scenarios or interesting challenges.
