Because it is very difficult for a company to do this process alone, it is advisable to ask for the assistance of a digital agency, which specializes in providing such services. The agency will guide the business and contribute to the effective design of the brand identity, so that it contributes to the long-term success of the business.
It is good to start with the definition:
Brand identity is all those elements (such as a unique design, symbols, words or a combination of these) that are used to create an image that uniquely identifies a business (and its products/services) and differentiates it from others. its competitors.
The design of the brand identity is a very demanding process, which consists of some steps.
Initially, the agency must be informed in detail by the company about some basic characteristics of its identity. Such is the company's culture, its values, its organizational chart, its long-term business goals, what differentiates it from the competition, etc. In this way, the designers of the agency will have the necessary information, in order to start planning the branding strategy of the company.
Of course, it is of key importance at this stage that the company itself has understood what the above characteristics are. This is not a given, especially if the business is in the early stages of its operation. For this reason, the agency may need to help the business in this direction by conducting detailed research and asking the appropriate questions. If the information provided by the company is incomplete or even incorrect, then the result will be different from what was initially expected and a different brand profile will be formed that may not represent the company. For this reason, this stage is very important and maximum effort should be made from both sides to avoid such mistakes.
When the above stage is completed, market research follows. This includes competition research and consumer preference research. The first is done for the agency to understand what are the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors and to learn from mistakes they have made in the past as well as from successful practices. The second is obviously done in order to obtain advertising information about the preferences of the consumers to whom it will be addressed. In order to more effectively identify the consumer audience it wants to target, it is necessary to define the various personas of the target audience.
Then the design part begins.
Everything starts with the design of the company's logo. Many marketers underestimate the importance of the logo, but in fact it is one of the most important elements of a company's brand id. The logo, in order to be successful, must clearly and unambiguously capture the company's main message to consumers. It is good that it consists of few elements. Usually very complex logos "confuse" consumers and do anything but achieve their main purpose.
The choice of the other visual elements of the brand is also important. Such are the colors used, the font, photos and other graphic elements. These are of course linked to the profile, which the company wants to adopt. If for example the business wants to have a more serious profile, it will choose colors and fonts that serve this purpose.
Product packaging is also important. If this is designed properly, it can attract the right customers, i.e. those it already targets and those the business wants to target. Attractive product packaging improves the overall customer experience and leads to customer loyalty and repeat sales.
In addition, the brand identity must be reflected in the way the company's website will be designed. The website is the place where potential customers will look for information about the business and its products (or services) and of course they are likely to make purchases from it. Therefore, as is obvious, the elements of the brand identity must be visible and presented coherently at every point of the company's website.
The same applies to the design and way of promoting marketing campaigns, in order to simultaneously achieve the immediate & effective communication of each message and to successfully convey the style of the business.
The basic elements of identity must, after all, be maintained and communicated across the spectrum of electronic and print communication.
In conclusion, there is no right or wrong way to perform the above steps. The procedure followed each time must be separate and differentiated in direct relation to the identity of each business and the guidelines it gives to the agency.
The resulting result must be in line with them, so that the branding strategy fully captures the company's identity and contributes to the achievement of the long-term goals it has set.
What is Branding and its Effective Design Requirements
