As a firm, it’s important that you make sure your ability to present your operation, vision, and products or services well is essential. This kind of appeal can make new customers into returning clients, unsure consumers into first time purchasers, and regular people into brand ambassadors via word of mouth.
Of course, customers don’t generally ‘look for’ good branding, they just know what they like when they see it, and this means that some efforts are better than others. No matter if you hope to market a product, an event, a service, or something else entirely, knowing how to package the entire affair and trade using its spirit as marketing fodder can be key.
But what exactly do consumers respond to? After all, isn’t everyone different? How can we appeal to the masses when so many people have their own tastes and preferences we could leverage? Thankfully, a great deal of research has gone into this approach, meaning that even the pluckiest small firm can get the best of this understanding provided they use the best design agency and take a proactive approach towards branding. With that in mind, please consider:
Authentic Style
Authentic style is key when determining your branding approach. For instance, think of how brands like Jack Daniels have used the kind of font script on their labels for some time, harping back to the old times where proud stencilled lettering was key to promoting a brand, where the idea of barrel-aged whiskeys and Tennessee whiskeys spoke to adventure, masculinity, an old-school approach, and more.
For these reasons, even though Jack Daniels isn’t considered a particularly high-end whiskey compared to other brands out there, people still wash and present the bottles on their shelves or give it pride of place in their bar. That’s the power of authentic style and a willingness to present character proudly.
Themes Properly Expressed
Branding is also aided by themes that the kind of imagery, font, and graphic design used can imply. For instance, think of a fitness supplement as a product. It might come in a very simple plastic bottle geared towards keeping the supplement itself safe. The labelling around this bottle, however, will often showcase streamlined, cool fonts, use imagery that denotes power, performance, and agility, as well as competition, and will do its best to showcase people performing and finding passion in what they do on their website. Of course, these themes will be expressed best of all of they sponsor a fitness influencer to promote the product, as then the success achieved by the hard work of such a person automatically becomes associated with this supplement. As you can see – how you express a theme is just as important as what the theme is to begin with.
Transparency & Accessibility
Consumers wish for brands to be accessible, perhaps most of all. Without this, it’s very easy for companies to feel disconnected from the realities of day to day life, or out of touch with who might be purchasing their goods.
Some firms might take a thorough approach to sustainability, for instance, making that a core component of their branding. It’s also important to make sure your branding is accessible and understandable, that it doesn’t take too much work to piece together what you’re selling, why you believe in that product, and why they should care and not just move on. This takes an honest candor and the willingness to be up front.
Even with mysterious and often ridiculously artsy fragrance advertisements, the message is clear – our product will make you smell good and be desirable. As mysterious as the content of that advertising might seem, no matter what language you may speak, you see Johnny Depp staring off into the distance and a bottle of fragrance and you instantly understand the themes presented – you understand that you’re supposed to feel cool wearing this product.
If your branding is too complex, despite how smart your audience may be, consider how you can get the point across in a more transparent and accessible manner.
Pride, History, & Presence
Ultimately, if you can’t show pride in your history, in your presence, in your existence as a firm, it’s hard to convince others to care as well.
This is why companies often celebrate ‘5 years of being here!’ as well as celebrate events, prominently discuss their history on little pamphlets within orders of a certain value, and more. It’s about motivating the staff, celebrating their approach, and allowing others to find interest in that too.
It might be that your firm could benefit from such an approach.
With this advice, we hope you can look for the best of branding in the best of ways, and apply that to your own firm.
