In short, a strong brand identity differentiates you from the competition, enables you to attract and retain loyal customers, and makes your business memorable among your audience.
Branding therefore plays a pivotal role in your business’ success – even more so in today’s digital age, where first impressions are absolutely everything. In fact, a study by Salsify found that 46% of customers tend to buy from familiar brands that they recognise.
The more people recognise, understand, and believe in what your brand can offer, the more they buy from you, it’s as simple as that!
But before we dive into the many benefits of having a strong brand identity, it’s important to understand exactly what a strong brand is.
What Is the Definition of a Brand?
To put it simply, a brand is a collection of perceptions that people associate with a particular service, product or company. There are typically two parts of a brand – a visual identity and the business promise/ values.
Visual identity includes all the visual components of a brand, such as the logo, colours, fonts, images and tagline, that makes the business recognisable and allows it to stand out from competitors. Business promise on the other hand, encompasses what the business guarantees to deliver to their audience, their mission and values.
What is the Meaning of a Strong Brand Identity?
A strong brand identity simply refers to the distinct set of core values, unique characteristics, visual elements, and messaging that collectively defines a brand and distinguishes it from their competitors.
Key elements of a strong brand identity include:
- Memorability & recognisability – A company with a strong brand identity will most likely stay in the minds of the audience & consumers should be able to identify the brand quickly through its logo, colours, and other visual elements.
- Consistency – A strong brand identity is consistent in messaging, design and overall brand presentation across all platforms. According to the State of Brand Consistency report, consistent branding across all communication channels can increase a business’s revenue by 20%.
- Brand guidelines – A brand with a strong identity often has well-documented brand guidelines that everyone involved in creating content or representing the brand adheres to.
- Emotional connections – A strong brand identity often induces the audience’s emotions, which helps build brand loyalty and encourages repeat purchases.
Even though brands are intangible, it doesn’t mean they aren’t incredibly valuable business assets. The way a customer feels towards a business will significantly influence their purchasing behaviour, which of course, directly impacts the business’s bottom line.
Why Is a Strong Brand Identity Important?
A strong brand identity is important because:
- It sets you apart from your competitors
- It builds customer loyalty and trust
- It makes your business memorable
- Lower price sensitivity
- It provides a good foundation for successful marketing
1. It Sets You Apart From Your Competitors
First and foremost, a strong brand identity plays a significant role in helping your business stand out from competitors offering similar products or services in a crowded marketplace.
It highlights all the things that make the brand unique and different, creating a distinct and memorable impression on consumers.
As touched on at the beginning of this blog, a strong brand identity is consistent across all communication channels and platforms used by the company, including marketing materials, social media, packaging and messaging, for example. A consistent brand naturally builds trust within the audience as it reinforces the brand’s image and character, making it stand out in the busy market.
This leads us nicely onto the second point…
2. It Builds Customer Loyalty and Trust
A powerful brand identity plays a significant role in building and maintaining a loyal base among your customers.
Not only is this due to consistency as mentioned in point 1, but a strong and well-defined brand identity often connects with customers on a deeper, emotional level. Whether it be through shared values, relatable stories, or a distinctive brand personality, this emotional connection can create a bond that goes beyond transactional relationships, encouraging customer loyalty.
A strong brand identity also helps create positive associations in the minds of customers. By this we mean, when customers associate a brand with positive experiences and values that align with their own, they are more likely to remain loyal to that brand.
Customer loyalty is one of, if not the, most important factors that will help your business grow, especially if you’re operating in a saturated marketplace with heavy competition.
3. It Makes Your Business Memorable
If you want your business to be recognisable and memorable, a strong brand is absolutely essential, it’s as simple as that.
Take the incredibly successful and famous Starbucks brand, for example. Even if you don’t visit the cafe, you most definitely know of their brand. The café interior is dark, warm and dramatic and the logo on their coffee cup is a white and green woman in a circle.
This is why investing in a solid visual branding strategy is so important if you want people to recognise your brand wherever it presents itself. For example:
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Logo design
A well-designed, eye-catching and memorable logo is a central component of brand identity. A logo is what essentially gives your audience the first impression of your brand and what it offers/stands for, and allows customers to recognise the brand in various settings.
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Distinctive imagery
The use of iconic or distinctive imagery associated with the brand can massively increase recognition. This includes visuals, symbols, or even photography styles that become associated with the brand.
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Colour palette
A carefully chosen and consistent colour palette enhances brand recognition, as for a lot of people, colours can evoke emotions and associations. When used consistently, they become strongly linked to the brand in the minds of consumers.
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Motion graphics
One of the easiest ways to make your brand stand out and be memorable is incorporating motion graphic design into your branding strategy.
Leveraging animations and dynamic visuals into your branding not only sets your business apart from the rest, but also creates a more engaging and memorable experience for your audience, enhancing the overall appeal of what your business has to offer.
At Creadigol Design, we understand that a brand is much more than just a logo or a website. It’s a feeling people get when they interact with your business, which is why we pride ourselves on keeping motion at the forefront of our design process, and a core part of our strategy.
Get in touch with our friendly team to see how we can take your brand to the next level.
4. Lower Price Sensitivity
Another fantastic benefit of building a strong brand identity is it gives you the ability to raise prices without the worry of customers going elsewhere.
The term ‘price sensitivity’ refers to how heavily the cost of your product weighs on your target market’s willingness to buy it. In simple terms, the less price weighs on their decision, the better. It means customers like your brand well enough to give less weight (importance) to price.
Customers who are less sensitive to price have most likely been satisfied with a product they’ve bought from a brand, have a positive emotional connection to the brand or can relate to the brand’s values and ethos e.g. sustainability.
5. It Provides a Good Foundation for Successful Marketing
Last but not least, a strong brand identity serves as a solid foundation for successful marketing. This is because a consistent and well-defined brand identity makes the brand easily recognisable, which is essential for marketing strategies, as consumers are more likely to engage with and remember a brand they can easily identify.
What’s more, brands with strong identities are much better positioned to differentiate themselves well in the market. Successful marketing involves showcasing what makes the brand unique and captivating, and a strong identity provides a foundation for effective distinction.
And there we have it! We hope this article has helped your understanding of what a brand identity is and why it’s so important in today’s market. For more news and top tips, check out our branding and design blog.
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We are Creadigol Design – a UK-based bilingual full-service design studio designed to transform your brand and help you stand out in a crowded marketplace.
From brand strategy and identity design to UX/UI and web development, our team of bilingual designers, strategists, and developers are passionate about delivering world-class design solutions that are tailored to your unique needs.
Contact our experts today and see how we can help your business.
Written by Kate, for Creadigol Design.
