The Importance of Having a Strong Brand Image

When you hear the words “successful brand,” what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of household names like Nike, McDonald’s, Google, or Disney. One thing these brands have in common is their unique, distinguishable, and popular brand image. When you see their logos, slogans, and even mascots, you can clearly recognize the consistent message they are portraying. Just like these companies work hard to keep their brand image attractive and relevant, you should be doing the same for your business. With a strong branding campaign, all a person has to do is look at your logo and they will immediately identify you with your offerings, so make sure it’s a worthwhile one!

The brand image gives your business its own identity, which is the best way to stand out to current and potential customers. Humans remember things best when they can associate them to feelings, appearances, styles, and tones. And the more associations, the better! So, the stronger, more refined identity you can create for your brand, the more likely people will remember you (and buy from you) for years to come.

Here are the major aspects of your brand image to focus on:

1. Logo. Create a symbol that represents your business. Eventually, when people see your logo, sans the name of your company, they’ll immediately recognize the brand. Similar to Nike – all we need to see is the “Swoosh” and we know exactly which brand it represents.
2. Text. There is a lot that goes into play here because the text of your marketing will probably be ever-changing. However, the overall vibe, tone, and feel of what the text says or how it’s said should be consistent. You don’t want one medium to have a bubbly persona and the next to be bland and serious. It needs to be uniform at all times.
3. Colors. Pick a color pallet for your brand image and stick with the color theme throughout all marketing materials. The more cohesive you are, the more memorable you’ll be. Take McDonald’s for instance – you see red and yellow, and you immediately think of the Golden Arches and Ronald McDonald’s hair. It’s important to be consistent in your materials so there’s no question that it’s your brand.
4. Style. This is something that includes what fonts, graphics, images, etc. that you’ll use for and along with your business. This is the overall look of your brand image that needs to be decided on and followed with each marketing piece. If you want to be more distinguishable in your brand messaging, stay away from constantly changing your font. Customers tend to get used to one thing and simply have a hard time adjusting to constant changes. You’ll notice that Google keeps a uniform font across all platforms (Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive) so we can easily identify their unique brand. We are creatures of habit, so there’s no sense in constantly changing things up for fun, thus confusing the consumer. Disney is a great example of this as well. You can see a clear-cut design they follow with everything they put out for marketing.

The goal is to be recognizable to people without much effort on their part. So, make sure your brand image makes sense to your business and the industry in which you operate. This way, people will better associate your brand with Industry X, and it will help tie everything together. Focus on being consistent everywhere. Both online and offline marketing strategies need to have the same look – your website should match your business cards, flyers, posters, etc.

If you need help with revamping your brand image, there are people to help with that! Contact us at [email protected] or 888.603.9997 for more information.