What makes a brand stand out?

Written by Graphic Designer & Workshop Host, Arunima Girotra www.arunimagirotra.com

What is branding to you?

My very first job interview started with this question. My answer then was, “I haven’t thought much about it, but I believe it is what makes something or someone stand out.”

After the interview, I was asked to write on the topic The Quintessential Indian Youth Brand, and I chose WhatsApp.

That is where my journey with branding began. It has been 12 years since then, and I have worked with brands across industries, creating brand and visual identities, working on brand strategy, and taking up other design-related projects.

Over the last decade, my understanding of branding has evolved, but its core remains the same.

In simple words, branding is the identity of your brand. It is what helps potential customers recognize your business and understand what it stands for.

Branding consists of:

Visual identity: Your logo, brand colors, typography, graphic elements, imagery, and layout style that represent your brand.

Brand voice and tone: How you communicate your brand messaging.

Brand values and vision: Having your values and vision in place helps define what your brand stands for and where you want it to go.

While working on your brand, building a strong strategic foundation is also very important. Research your target audience, develop customer personas for the different people you want to sell your products or services to understand how you want to position your brand, and define what makes it different from its competitors.

Once you have your brand strategy in place, branding helps communicate it to your potential customers.

It is not only about visual identity. It is also about what people understand about your brand and how they perceive it. For me, it is also about cultivating ideas into stories and experiences that help people connect with your brand.

Often, when we speak about branding, we associate it with big brands. However, it is equally important for small businesses.

Small business owners should view branding as an important part of marketing and growing their business. The small steps you take today to define how your brand looks, what it stands for, and how it is perceived can help differentiate it from others in the market and build brand recognition.

People experience your brand whenever they interact with your business. These customer touchpoints could include your website, social media, emails, customer service, physical space, packaging, or marketing materials. Maintaining consistency across these interactions helps people recognize and understand your brand.

Branding is an ongoing process, and it is important to spend time researching, defining, and developing your brand as your business grows.

What to Keep in Mind While Branding Your Business

1. Have your visual identity in place

Make sure you have all the required formats and variations of your logo. Have your brand colors in place, including primary, secondary, and accent colors, along with your brand fonts and other visual elements.

2. Have your brand guidelines in place

If you are collaborating with someone or getting a designer or organization to create something for your business, brand guidelines will help maintain consistency.

Consider your brand guidelines a mini-insight into your brand. They can include information about your visual identity, messaging, voice and tone, and brand personality.

3. Define your brand voice

Think of your brand as a person and describe it in five words. What would the personality of your brand be?

Once you have this in place, it will help you define a voice and tone that can be consistently used across your messaging and communication channels.

4. Define what makes your business different

Make sure you understand what makes your business different from others. Ask yourself: What is your brand’s USP?

Through branding, you want to create recognition in the minds of your customers and potential customers. For example, if they see a particular color or marketing asset, they should be able to recognize that it belongs to your brand.

Consistent branding, along with maintaining the quality of your products or services, can help set your business up for success. It can help customers remember your brand, return to it, and eventually become its promoters.

After all, building a brand is about cultivating ideas into stories and experiences that people recognize, connect with, and remember.