What's The Big Deal About Branding?

Whether you’re a small start-up or a multi-million enterprise, a strong brand is essential in building an identity for yourself and a relationship with customers. But what does it take?

First, what is a brand?

A brand is the image of your company, from the logo, to the text, to the way you conduct yourself. For customers, your brand is a representation of how your company operates and what they can expect when dealing with you. For example, our branding is bright, yellow and well, shiny! Which is just how we operate!

Ok, so what makes a good brand then?

Identify with your audience

Brands create a human aspect that people can relate to, identify with and become part of. When a person believes they share the same interests, values and beliefs with a brand, they build a relationship with it, just like when you meet a person for the first time. Get to know your audience before you try to sell to them.

Stick to your roots

Nothing is more unappealing than a company who forgets where they started. The most loyal customers are the ones who have been there from the start. If you take Levi for example, they updated their product line and hoped to reach a newer market and actually, it really disadvantaged them! They lost their authenticity and with that, a lot of interest. However, they quickly caught on, reinvested in their story and originality and regained success. Embrace your journey and where you started!

Pull on their heartstrings!

If you can connect with your audience on an emotional level – you’re sorted. People often connect with brands because they want to enhance their image or become part of something. Wearing Nike makes us look and feel fit and healthy, using Apple makes us look and feel cool and modern, and driving a BMW makes us look and feel successful. It’s all about how a brand makes people feel.
Branding done well will make you feel like you are investing in yourself and your image, rather than a company thriving on profits.
 
At SHINE, not only do we look to represent and distinguish ourselves through our own branding, but we frequently develop brands for our clients. So we definitely want to get it right! We make sure we consider everything from colour, right down to font style and images to make sure our clients end up with the best brands to represent themselves.