Basics of Branding: Lecture 2
Understanding your brand
Since a brand is a perception, understanding what your brand currently is really comes down to understanding what perception others have of your current brand.
You build your brand by setting a trajectory or where you want those perceptions to be.
Figuring out what perceptions you want associated with your brand requires a little market research - who is your audience, what kindof brands do they appreciate and what other brands are competing for the same audience.
Once you have a good grasp of what your current brand perceptions are and what perceptions you would like to move towards, you can get to work at building your brand.
Building your brand
There are many factors to think about when building your own brand:
- Name: A name serves the purpose of being easy to remember, easy to type, easy to search for. It can evoke an emotion or just be generic.
- Logo: The logo aids in brand recognition. It should be memorable and fit well with the name.
- Personality: Your brand personality is how it humanizes. Serious and powerful. Playful and friendly. Or something in between. It’s the “person” others perceive you to be.
- Colors: Colors evoke emotions and the chosen brand color scheme adds to your customer perceptions.
- Company Culture: Your culture should result in evolving the brand with the right trajectory.
- Website: Your website should should be perceived as uniquely your website and not just any website.
- Product Design: Product design and packaging revolves around the experience you want to give your customers, which further affects their perceptions of your brand.
- Store Experience: From the moment a potential or existing customer walks into your store, it’s as if they walked into the brand’s home. The entire experience from the moment they walk in until they leave will be strongly linked to their perception of your brand.