• Brand identity
• Brand communication
• Brand awareness
• Brand loyalty
• Branding strategies

You measure all of these components using brand equity, the measure of a brand’s worth and effectiveness as a result of these elements.  There are so many misconceptions people have of branding, many think it is simply a logo design and some stationary. In fact, this couldn’t be more wrong, graphic design is just a tiny part of the spectrum, the visual link between consumers and a brand.  Granted it is a huge aid to many of the elements.

Branding shouldn’t be mistaken as a scary word to describe market reach, sales, and net worth.  It simply means the psychology between a person/company and its consumers – although when implemented effectively it can really enhance the value and sales for your company.

Starting with the logo, creating a visual link for the consumers and creates the first initial relationship, establishing the brand’s identity.  Even if a person has never experienced a certain brand, due to its visual identity, people will already have preconceived thoughts, associations and beliefs about what it produces or provides.  That’s why it is extremely important to execute a good initial design that will leave a lasting impression on people and could potentially resonate in their minds and turn them into customers or clients.

Have you ever seen an advert on TV, in a newspaper or magazine from a company that isn’t directly selling any product in particular, but simply tells a story that is relative to the company?

There is a reason for this.

Effective branding will be consistent and spread across everything, including marketing and advertising.  This is what implants a brand into your memory, whether by pulling on your heart strings or playing on the aspirational needs of the market.

They believe that the more people who know about what their brand represents the better.  For example, if you remember a specific advert that Sainsbury’s aired at Christmas in 2014.

They aren’t telling you the price of a new bleach they were offering, they aren’t telling you how to save money by shopping with them, they are telling a moving and touching story, that gets people talking, sharing and making it viral via social media.

Branding goes way past visual communication.  Humans are way more sensory than that.  Take Hollister for example, when you walk into one of their stores you immediately smell Hollister’s signature fragrance.

Stimulating more of the senses than sight, it really allows them to make the customer aware of the attention to detail, complemented by ambient lighting and interesting interior, you know who and what they are without even looking at their products.  Again this can link to further brand recognition because Hollister knows that this will make people talk, meaning more people will want to visit the store to see what the hype is all about and window shopping around a store can lead to direct sales, without pushing sales posters and adverts down their throats and feeling overly-consumed by your brand.

Don’t get us wrong, promotional material is a hugely important part of making a brand successful.  It gets the word out, but people also need to remember that everything you do as a company, as a brand, the market is always in control.  What you choose to publish or promote may have negative effects on your reputation.  So be careful.

You set prices for your products and the market decides whether they are worth it.

They decide to buy and on what basis.

A few questions you should answer are:

• Have you provided enough value to justify the asking price?
• Does your product fulfill a need?
• Have you put enough care and attention into the smaller details such as packaging and sensory stimulation?
• Can they get a better deal elsewhere?

These are just some to get you started but feel free to get in touch and see how we can help you execute every element that will take your brand above and beyond.