There are so many new buzz words these days it’s hard to keep up. One of the new words is ‘brand identity’. It’s more than just your typical buzzword though, you need to know what it means and what you as a business needs to do about it.

So, what is a ‘Brand Identity’? According to investopedia.com, a company’s brand identity is “how that business wants to be perceived by consumers. The components of the brand (name, logo, tone, tagline, typeface) are created by the business to reflect the value the company is trying to bring to the market and to appeal to its customers.”

The article also goes on to point out the difference between brand identity and brand image. Your image is how the public perceives you which may not necessarily be what you think your brand identity is. For that reason, it is important to create a clear and concise brand identity and keep it consistent across all forms of your marketing.

Here are a few ideas to help manage a brand identity that will last and represent you well:

1. Take the time to develop your brand. This will help you manage your image.
2. Brand consistency eliminates brand confusion.
3. Establishing your brand standards and maintaining that standard, will build brand equity.
4. Customers will see your brand and know exactly what your business is no matter what platform they see you on.
5. Maintaining a consistent brand helps to convey a certain degree of reliability and trust.

You may want to create a brand style guide to share with your team. Included in the guide should be:

• Exact company name to be used including LLC, Inc, Co., etc.
• Tag Line.
• Mission Statement.
• Logo – You should have variations so you need to detail what/when/where each variation is used.
• Color Scheme – Include hex codes, RGB, and color usage as it relates to your brand.
• Typography – List of fonts you use in your blog content, press releases, emails, sales copy.
• Imagery and Photo Styles – How should these look to the market? Under what circumstances are different styles used, what feelings they should induce in the customer.
• Copy Guidelines – The more details the better about capitalization of letters in the brand name/brand material, and circumstances and locations to use trademarks, affiliations, slogans, disclaimers, etc.
• Examples of what you consider poor use of your brand – such as inappropriate language while signed into company social media and other online profiles.

Is your brand identity the same across all platforms of marketing, including social media? Is it telling the same story everywhere you see it? Talk to us and we can do a complete brand identity evaluation for you!