Starting and setting up a business takes just minutes, but building a brand identity can take years. You know what you want and who you will sell to, but what makes your brand enticing?

What is that one thing that makes your brand identifiable? 

If you don’t have a brand identity, selling to the masses will be VERY difficult. A strong brand identity is more than just how the public sees your brand. A brand identity design includes your brand’s values, mission statement, what you stand for, and the relationship you have with your customers. 

What is Brand Identity?

Before you learn about brand development, you need to have a clear grasp of brand identity. 

Brand identity, at its core, is everything your brand represents and everything your brand is about.

Your brand identity is made up of some elements, including:

• Your business’s values/mission statement
• Products and services you offer
• The voice of your brand, brand persona, and brand style
• Your relationship with your customers

The culmination of all these core elements becomes your brand’s image or your brand’s personality. The image that comes up is how general public sees your brand. Other contributing factors to a strong brand identity include your logo, name, color palate, and product/service designs.

By carefully crafting your brand identity, you can differentiate it from the competition and build relationships with your future customers. 

Importance of Brand Identity

If you want to be just another run-of-the-mill local business, then brand identity may not be necessary. But, to become a brand, you need a brand-building strategy. 

Why? Because customers remember brand identities. They remember you by your logos, aesthetics, and brand messaging. Once you’ve assumed a brand identity, customers will be able to recognize your brand. 

If you can somehow make customers remember the one identifying factor about your brand, it instills trust in your brand. 

Customers of today are savvy. They don’t want to purchase something they’re unsure of. The better your brand identity is, the more customers will be able to discover that your brand values match their values. 

Best Examples of Brand Identity

Still, have doubts about the importance of brand identity? Let’s look at some of the most iconic brands customers worldwide know about. 

1. McDonalds

A fast food chain with golden arches and a clown. What does this remind you of? McDonald’s.

McDonald’s has spent billions of dollars and countless years cultivating a unique brand image everyone can remember. McDonalds has become a home name and is the biggest name in the fast food industry. 

This is what quality brand identity design can do for you.

2. Apple.Inc

Imagine a half-eaten apple. What is the first product that came to your mind? Most probably an iPhone or a MacBook, right? This is the power of brand identity.

When it comes to brand building, Apple is probably the king. They’ve built a brand on sophistication, design, reliability, and an iconic logo.

3. Levi’s

The shape of the Levi’s logo which has its own name, “batwing” - is designed to showcase the brand’s most sold product: Jeans.

It closely resembles the stitching pattern on the back pocket of the jeans. Another thing that does wonders for them is the minimalistic design. The red color is also a representation of the wildly famous red tag on Levi’s jeans. 

Branding doesn’t mean you give your brand’s entire life story to a customer. It should be simple, effortless, and something customers that helps customers identify your brand almost instantly.

How to Build Brand Identity With 5 Easy Steps

To become a brand, you have to build a strong brand identity. A brand identity that reflects your mission statement, your values, and the relationships you want to build with your customers. 

Below, we’ve mapped out a 5-step guide for creating a brand out of your business:

1. Define Your Business’s Identity

To create a brand, you need a clear idea of who you are as a business. To get a clear idea about that, you need to ask yourself some questions:

• What is the name of my business?
• What is the industry I want to target?
• What is the nature of the products and services I sell?
• Am I selling to businesses or individuals?
• Am I selling my products/services online or offline?

Most likely, you have already gone over these questions while starting your business. If you haven’t gone over this, it’s the right time to figure it out.

Once you have answer to these questions, it’s time to go deeper and ask yourself some other questions:

• What is the reason I started this business? Would the reason for starting the business outweigh the band’s value?
• What is the brand’s name? What is it that I want to represent with the brand name?
• What is the value proposition of my product or service for my customers?
• Are my products a necessity, a convenience, or a luxury item?
• Why would people want to buy my product/service?
• Any crucial values or beliefs that are central to my business’s beliefs? 

Once you have answers to these questions, you’ll have a rough idea of what you want to communicate to your customers. Your messaging is what’s going to differentiate you from your competitors.

Come up with a slogan for your brand that encapsulates your brand’s essence in a few words. You don’t HAVE to have a slogan, but if you can create something, it would be better.

Some examples of famous Slogan ideas include:

• McDonald’s: I’m lovin’ it
• L’Oreal: Because you’re worth it
• Nike: Just do it
• Subway: Eat fresh

You don’t have to pressure yourself to write a slogan. You can add that later on in the process as well. 

2. Understand the Market

Now that you know what your business stands for, make sure you also understand the local market. 

The best way to understand the market conditions is by asking yourself if you’re selling to businesses or individuals.

If you’re selling to businesses, you need to have a clear idea of which departments of a company will use your product. Also, consider who is most likely to make purchasing decisions. 

If you’re targeting individuals, learn about target demographics, audience preferences, and average consumer budgets.

3. Design Logo, Color Palate, and Brand Aesthetic

Now comes the part that customers will see the most. 

A logo is the face of your business for all intents and purposes. Pro tip: Don’t settle on the first logo you like. Something that you like may not be liked by all. 

If you’re a small business with limited resources, you can use AI tools to design logos.

Most AI tools will ask you for your brand’s name and the font style you like, and it will come up with sample ideas. 

Once you like a couple of designs, it will analyze your taste and come up with a list of logos for you to choose from. 

You can tweak colors, icons, and font styles when you like a logo. 

Choosing the right color palate can make all the difference in how customers see your brand. Every company has different values, so they use a color tone that suits them. 

If your target audience is on the younger side, then you would be better off using light and warm tones. 

The next step in the logo-making process is to enter your company’s name and the icons you want to use. Don’t go overboard with icons; choose icons that have some kind of relationship with:

• Your business’s name
• Business values
• Products and services
• Business’s overall personality

You’ll have multiple logo options once you’ve entered all the necessary information. Choose the one that you like 

4. Gather Feedback & Adjust

Now that you have a logo that you love, you need to take feedback from people you trust and then adjust accordingly. 

If possible, run a poll on social media or any other place where you could get quality feedback. Having feedback from multiple sources and people from various backgrounds can do wonders. 

Some questions you need to ask yourself before finalizing a logo include:

• Is the logo easy to read and understand? If not, which parts need improvement?
• What’s the kind of business you imagine when you see this logo?
• Who do you think is the target customer by looking at the logo?
• Does this logo make you want to visit the business or try the products?
• Do you like this logo at first glance? If not, what changes can be made?

Once you have all the necessary feedback, you can change your logo. 

5. Develop and Incorporate Branding into Assets

Now, you have done almost everything to set up your brand. It’s time to tie up the final step - develop and incorporate brand guidelines into all business assets. 

Brand guidelines are rules and regulations that tell your team how to use branding elements correctly. 

Some things that you can add to your branding guidelines include:

• When and where to use information about your brand’s story, values, and mission statement
• All acceptable versions of your logo
• Correct fonts to use in all digital media
• Your brand’s color palate and color codes
• Letterhead and presentation guidelines + templates

Always keep updating your brand guidelines as your businesses will encounter different situations, and you may need to evolve. 

Once you have a complete brand guidelines document, it’s time to put it all to test. 

Incorporate your brand guidelines into all of your assets, such as:

• Websites
• Social media
• Marketing products (posters, brochures, letterhead, business cards, presentation templates)
• Product packaging
• Signage and decor (if you have a brick-and-mortar store)

Watch it all come to life slowly and steadily. Now, your customers will be able to see a distinct identity of your brand, something they can relate to. 

Summing Up - Start Finding Success With Brand Development

Creating a memorable brand identity is something most businesses struggle with. Building a unique brand identity is a long and complex process, even if you follow all the steps. 

If you feel like completing all the steps mentioned above is a lot of work, hiring a digital brand-building company like Fastor7 can be the ideal solution. You cannot do everything yourself, so sometimes it’s better to leave some things to experts.