What makes a brand successful? And how can you ensure that your own brand stands out from the crowd? The most successful brands are well-known across the globe, instantly recognisable both for their products and services, and their values.
So, you’re looking to create a new brand: what do you need to bear in mind? Read on to find out our top tips on how to create a successful brand!
1. Your brand is much more than a logo!
When thinking about branding, people immediately think ‘logo’, however it is so much more than this. It is everything from the images you are using on your website through to fonts and colours used in your comms. You brand should evoke an emotion, making your customers and stakeholders want to be a part of what you are offering. A good example is Air B&B: their brand is instantly recognisable, and their target audience is clear from the outset – millennials who are keen to explore the world, staying at unique places. The brand instantly shouts, “we are unique, authentic and we know how to communicate with our audience.”
2. Think in colour
Did you know that colours can increase brand recognition by 80%?1
The world’s most recognisable brands use distinctive colours and quite often you don’t even need to see the brand’s logo – you know it’s their product just from the colour palette used.
Despite Heineken’s logo being modernised, the star remains red, and the Heineken text remains in their distinctive green.
Yellow and Blue – the IKEA logo hasn’t changed since the iconic yellow and blue was introduced in 1983. Remove the word ‘IKEA’ and you’d still instantly know which brand we were talking about.
Colour theory – and choosing a colour palette which reflects your own brand values, products/services and your target audience – is a whole project in its own right. Although Colour Theory and the connotations of using certain colours is well documented, we like this article from HeroSmyth which talks about ‘traditional’ colour theory and the companies who have successfully bucked the trend.
3. Choose your words carefully
Alongside the visual elements of your brand, the tone of voice you use can also give you the success and brand recognition you need to reach more people. Research by Oberlo2 found that 86% of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding which brands they like and support. Consumers, particularly Millenials and GenZ who seem to have pushed the need for authenticity to the forefront of consumer decision-making, expect brands to be honest; demanding that businesses care for something more than just profit, and will not hesitate to look for a brand that delivers on this if yours doesn’t.
As consumers, we have become wise to ‘generic, catch-all’ replies to queries and weak answers to questions on business ethos. Be real, be honest and be authentic in all areas of your business: from your advertising straplines to replies to your social media posts.
Several large brands have capitalised on this recently, by using their ATL campaigns not to push their own products, but to divert people’s attention to local, small independents during the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown. In reality, this won’t impact their profits, but it will create national headlines and cement them as a brand that cares about the wider community.
OWB have over 21 years’ experience creating brands that work – creating, igniting and growing is at the heart of everything that we do. If you’re looking for a brand that matches your passion, then get in touch with Andy today.
1. https://www.rebootonline.com/blog/what-importance-colour-brand-recognition/
