| Branding in Three Steps |
| Invention Development Advice - Business Identity and Artwork | |||
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A brand is a convenient handle that encapsulates the tangible and intangible qualities of a person, a project, a product or a business. Your brand is made up of your Actions, your Beliefs, and the Clothes you wear. The first two elements are the hardest to identify and communicate. Most businesses gloss over these elements. No wonder most brands come across as lacking in realness and integrity. The last element, essentially your logo, stationery and website, is relatively straightforward. It is easy to be distracted by these tangible manifestations.
1. Identify your true core Beliefs about what you do. Who are you? What is your business about? Why are you in business? What you are promising to do for your customers. What is your core value proposition? What makes you different from your competitors? What would the world miss out on if you did not exist?
2. Ensure all your Actions are aligned with your beliefs and promises. Be yourself. Don’t say things simply because you thing that’s what customers want to hear. Don’t do something because you think everyone else, or your competitors, are doing so. Integrity comes from doing what you promise to. It is as simple as that.
3. Get a professional designer to translate 1 and 2 into an appropriate visual representation. Get feedback from your customers and people who know you and your business. Do the Clothes fit the personality? If you can’t afford a professional designer just yet, just use your name, in a non-fancy typeface, as your logo. Keep it real simple.
Contrary to what many graphic designers will have you believe, your brand is not really about your logo or the colours you use. People remember you by their engagement with you, not what you were wearing. Believing your logo is the whole of your brand is like believing clothes is the whole person. Think mutton dressed as lamb.
By Zern Liew To find out how Zern can help you communicate or work better, visit http://eicolab.com.au/services/ and http://eidesign.com.au/services/ For more tips, tools and innovation thought-provokers, visit http://eicolab.com.au/blog/
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