Design is a key element of brand building. Couple that with the availability of highly skilled yet affordable Indian designers and you have your answer to why they are in high demand by top brands. But before examining that in detail, let us dive into exploring the meaning of “brand building”.?
Well, brand building simply means the sum of all the activities undertaken to market your business as a distinct brand, with its own ‘personality’, ‘image’ or ‘identity’. This includes, but is not limited to:?
- generating awareness about a business,??
- connecting with its target audience and potential clients in a personalized manner,??
- promoting its products and services,?
- offering swift and easy access to customer service, etc.?
This distinctiveness of a brand allows it to be separated from its industry competitors through a built identity achieved by visual and non-visual elements. The visual elements include:?
- Website design?
- Logo?
- Brand colors?
- Business cards?
- Social media identity?
- Flyers, brochures and posters?
- Ads, etc.?
The non-visual elements of a brand include:?
- Brand associations?
- Brand voice?
- Brand name??
- Tagline or slogan?
- Creative message?
- Brand guidelines?
- Brand strategy, etc.?
Brand Identity vs. Visual Identity?
Before we proceed, let us understand the difference between brand identity and visual identity of brands. Visual identity, as discussed above, is a part of brand identity along with non-visual elements. According to HubSpot, brand identity is made up of what your brand says, what your values are, how you communicate your product, and what you want people to feel when they interact with your company. Essentially, your brand identity is the personality of your business and a promise to your customers.?
On the other hand, visual identity is what your customers literally see while looking at or thinking about your brand- for instance, its colors, logo, ad campaigns, social media, websites, graphics, typography, etc. Furthermore, the difference between brand identity and visual identity of brands can be better understood by the people involved in these processes- marketing teams for brand identity and creative designers for visual identity. In short, visual identity is an expression of the brand’s ‘personality’, ‘image’ or ‘identity’.?
Why Do Top Brands Need Designers??
Simple. Designers help with visual brand building. In fact, they are essential and integral to the process of brands’ visual identity creation. They do it to appeal to a global audience, connect with them emotionally while informing them about the various aspects of the brand- its purpose, mission, products, services, etc.- and finally, to attract and retain them as potential customers.?
A survey conducted by 99designs by Vista showed that 84% of small business owners believe visual branding helps attract new customers and 88% find that it also helps build customer trust. Furthermore 78% revealed that visual branding significantly contributes to revenue growth. Another study by Sprout Social reveals that 64% of people want brands to connect with them.?
In fact, the last study argues that “Unlike partisan public figures, brands find themselves uniquely positioned to foster connections between people online.” These statistics and findings alone contribute to the importance of a cohesive brand identity and the global creativity that visual identity designers inform and spark. So, how does visual identity design elicit people’s emotions enough to spend their hard-earned money on a trust-based transaction??
- “Face” of Your Business- The logo and tagline of your company together form the ‘face’ of your business. In the sense that when your target audience and potential client pool come across your brand through any medium, be it websites, social media, blogs, ads, etc. they notice your logo. Your logo represents your brand to them at that point, and that is how gradually they start to ‘recall’ your brand through its ‘face’.?
- Tell Your Story- Imageries that help stitch a story together to be presented to the target audience are more powerful than, say, informational posts with graphs, charts and numbers. This is because as a general rule of thumb, people tend to connect with and remember stories more than facts. In this regard, infographics have come up as a viable method of disseminating information, which Indian designers can help your brand with.?
- Build Customer Trust- Over time, as your brand’s ‘recall value’ (the measure of the percentage of individuals who can remember a specific brand through a prompt, like a logo without its name or tagline) starts getting higher, target audience and potential and existing customers start trusting your authority in your industry more. This, coupled with a consistent visual identity, helps in producing credibility.?
- Generate Revenue- Happier customers mean higher revenue generated. Period. And how do you gain happier customers? You connect with them on a personal level. Not only is this a bulletproof method of attracting new customers, but also retaining existing clients. Through a consistent visual identity, especially by leveraging social media, Indian designers can help you quickly grow a loyal client base.?
- Stand Out Amongst Competition- A unique visual identity- does not necessarily have to be just plain absurd for the sake of uniqueness- helps you stand out amongst your competitors. This is especially helpful for small and medium sized businesses or new startups with giants to compete with. By narrating the mission and vision of your company you can create beautiful videos and ads that will resonate with people’s hearts.?
Why are Top Brands turning to Indian Designers??
This simple yet manifold reason can be broken down into 3 parts:?
- Availability of Specialized Skill Sets- Indian designers who go on to work for Fortune 500 companies on their user experience design, advertising, or digital strategies, have graduated from the top 10% of educational institutions in the country, like the National Institutes of Design. Their vocational education empowers them to start their careers with already a considerable amount of work experience, via internships, and courses certifying multiple design skills.?
- Global Pool of Talent- Implies no restrictions on choice leading to feelings of ‘settling down’ within the locally available means or resources. Casting a wider net allows businesses, especially in the West, to benefit from a global pool of talent that is highly educated, skilled, experienced and dedicated to their work. For instance, if you were looking for a designer for creating blog infographics specifically, and that too within your budget, a global talent pool lets you find and onboard just that.?
- High Quality Work at Affordable Costs- Finally, finding the right talent sounds expensive, right? Wrong. When you are hiring from India, be it Indian designers or developers, they come at a cheaper rate because of the currency differences existing between the East and the West. However, cheap does not affect the quality of work. As discussed, because of their extensive skillset, they are capable of offering advice on cross-functional design services, for a project that may require it but was not described as such. This is especially beneficial for small and new businesses working within tight budgets and deadlines.?
