If you don’t know who you are, how will anyone else? We say this in our branding conversations with our clients often.
At The Communication Boutique, we say that a brand identity is the “who” of the business.
While a brand is a company’s consistent and strategic identification and positioning, it is so much more than a logo and a website. Beyond maintaining a constant company image, it is crucial to thoughtfully develop your brand identity to ensure your organization drives to new customers, differentiates against the competition and empowers employees. Here are three reasons that organizations of every size need a brand identity.
1. To generate new customers and improve recognition
A brand identity should help an organization be sharply focused on their customers and therefore prevent them from making the mistake of marketing to those who aren’t truly their target market. The brand identity should make the marketing process more refined and streamlined because your organization will know who to target, what their needs are and how your organization can help.
In return, as a brand, it is crucial to be known by your customers. While companies know their products, the product must be known by their target market in order to grow. Through unity and consistency in a brand identity, customers should know what to expect, every time.
As consumers look for a new product or service, their recognition of a company’s brand identity could, and should, sway them. It is necessary for businesses to pursue a constant brand identity across all platforms. A brand identity shows a company’s promise, service, and attributes they offer to customers. Branding helps maintain the image that you want your customers to see and experience.
2. To differentiate against the competition
Brand identity includes what is different about your organization from the competition. It tells your organization’s unique selling proposition. This might be the most important part of your organization’s brand identity as it helps you understand how the market’s perception of the brand stands against the competition. This knowledge helps to position your company and goals in a differentiated fashion to make educated business and branding decisions to develop a brand that will last.
A brand identity helps customers know how to choose your organization, over competitors. What brand doesn’t want this?
3. To empower employees
It’s often heard that people are a company’s greatest asset. We like what Harvard Business Review proposes, they say that people aren’t your greatest asset, it’s how you empower them.
A brand identity is a tool to help you empower your people to do their job well. It tells them exactly who the company is and helps to hire easier and retain employees because you’re empowering them in the right way. They know who your brand is and they know how to operate within the organization.
This process of stabilizing a strategic brand identity helps employees to keep a unified message and delivery as they promote the company each day. When the brand identity is clear and consistent, employees can find it easily accessible to deliver upon goals. A strong brand identity promotes commitment, loyalty and company pride.