What Is Brand Marketing??The 4 crucial parts of any brand identity

Brand marketing is the process of establishing and growing a relationship between a brand and consumers. Rather than highlighting an individual product or service, brand marketing promotes the entirety of the brand, using the products and services as proof points that support the brand’s promise. The goal of brand marketing is to build a brand’s value – and the company’s value as a result.

The channels available for a brand marketing strategy are the same channels that companies can use for product marketing activities, such as digital, social, and paid search advertising. A good strategy is to use different channels together to create a?media mix?that reaches a wide audience. For example, brand marketers might use a brand advertising strategy supplemented by email and content marketing efforts to drive brand awareness and reach potential customers across multiple digital spaces. But when it comes to deciding the right messages for the right audiences in these spaces, we first have to consider brand attributes.

The 4 crucial parts of any brand identity

From your company name to its tagline and more, there are a lot of components to branding. Companies shouldn’t get bogged down in the details, though. Instead, we advise focusing on these four foundational elements:

1. Mission statement
2. Brand story
3. Brand voice
4. Brand design

1. Mission statement

Your company’s mission statement is a short description (usually no more than one sentence) of its main goals. It serves both an external and internal purpose:

• Externally, it communicates what your company cares about to better relate to customers.?
• Internally, it guides strategic decisions about your product, business model, ideal audience, and acquisition channels.

Here are a few examples of companies’ missions:

• Slack:?To make work life simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.
• Allbirds:?To prove that comfort, good design, and sustainability don't have to be mutually exclusive.
• Tesla:?To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

Notice how Slack’s mission doesn’t mention a “messaging app.” Similarly, Allbirds doesn’t say anything about footwear or apparel, and Tesla doesn’t refer to its electric cars or solar panels.?

The takeaway here: Your mission statement should be a concise, high-level statement. There’s no need to get into the weeds of the products or services you create.?

Think: How are you contributing to your community or world? Not: What are you selling?

2. Brand story

Think of your brand story as a detailed expansion of your mission statement. It’s a narrative about how your company came to be and why it does what it does.

The most effective brand stories stir emotion. As humans, we’re drawn to stories because they engage and inspire us. They help us process information in a much more memorable way than simply reading a list of statistics.?

Based on our observations, there are two common approaches for framing a brand story:

1. Origin:?This approach focuses on how a company came to be and the people behind it. It’s best for those with interesting or unusual backgrounds. For instance, a broke dumpster diver named Sophia Amoruso opened an eBay store for her vintage finds—which eventually became the Nasty Gal fashion brand.?
2. Consumer-focused:?This approach places customers at the center of the brand story, describing how they inspired a product or how a product fits into their lives. These stories work best for companies that have more straightforward origins, e.g., you saw an unmet need and created a product to address it.

Neither approach is better than the other—they’re simply different storytelling methods. That said, both approaches should tie your company’s success to the customer in some way.?

Here’s an example of an origin story from the eco-friendly toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap:

Using the origin approach, Who Gives A Crap tells the story of how its founders were appalled to learn about poor sanitation around the world—which led them to create a crowdfunding campaign. The story addresses its customers by noting how the company’s supporters have helped build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world. So despite initially focusing on its founders, Who Gives A Crap’s story positions customers as a part of its success.

Companies that don’t have an emotionally compelling history might struggle to create an origin story that feels authentic. In that case, it’s better to write your brand story using a consumer-focused approach.

Here’s an example from the ballpoint pen company BIC.

Notice how BIC describes itself as giving consumers “the power of creative expression.” The story revolves around BIC’s goal to “answer a fundamental consumer need” rather than details about its founders. It’s inspiring without being over the top.?

Regardless of how your company got started, your brand story shouldn’t just be about getting your product onto more shelves. Give it some emotion so it can resonate more deeply with your audience.?

Consider these questions:

• How does your product serve customers??
• What value does your product provide?
• Why should customers choose your company over a direct competitor?

One last note: Your brand story doesn’t need to be long. Who Gives A Crap’s is 235 words; BIC’s is 140. Aim for under 250 words. Keep it simple.

3. Brand voice

Your brand voice is how your company would sound if it were a person. It comes across in all your company’s communications, including its:

• Website: blog, site popups, product pages, even error pages
• Emails: promotional messages, newsletters, order confirmations
• Customer support interactions
• Social media posts
• Ads

A single adjective like “casual” isn’t enough. You should specify more details like your brand’s tone of voice and the vocabulary it uses.

Both have casual brand voices, but their personalities are very different. While Dove focuses on empowerment, Old Spice leans into absurdity. Given Dove’s mission to help women develop a positive relationship with their appearance, it shouldn’t use the same voice as Old Spice.

4. Brand design

Brand design revolves around the visual elements that represent your company. Compared to the other branding components we’ve highlighted, it can be the most expensive. That’s because brand design requires a high level of both skill and creativity.?

Though it can encompass a lot, here are the most important components:

• A unique and recognizable logo design
• A defined color palette with 2-4 colors
• 2-3 complementary fonts as your company’s typography
• Company iconography (these are the graphic symbols that represent specific actions, like a shopping cart, messaging bubble, etc.)
• Custom imagery that illustrates your product, its benefits, etc.?
• A cohesive website that uses all of the above assets

These design pieces matter because you’ll need them in your marketing campaigns. But while you can develop your company’s mission statement, story, and brand voice internally, brand design often requires outsourcing.?

That can get expensive—as much as $50,000-$150,000 if you go with a high-quality agency.??

So?we recommend working on your mission statement, story, and brand voice yourself and spending no more than $5,000 on brand design. If you’re on a tight budget, use 99designs, Upwork, or Fiverr and focus on a logo, brand colors, typography, and iconography. These platforms won’t give you the best assets, but they at least offer a “minimum viable brand.”

There’s no need to prioritize getting a custom website and images because there are cost-effective solutions like website builders and stock photo sites. Consider investing more in brand design when you can afford it.