“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon

Your brand voice, brand message and brand logo all need to work together to build an all-important first impression. Most people make the mistake of thinking branding refers only to a logo and maybe a tag line, or it’s all about the particular design of product labels. Branding isn’t one of these elements – it’s the sum of all of them together. Your brand is what people see, and how people form opinions of your products and services.

A large aspect of branding is visual identity. Deciding on how your products will look, how your communications will look and how your website will look is probably the most important task. However, don’t get caught up thinking that everything has to match exactly. It doesn’t all have to be the exact same colour or have the same font – but just keep in mind that everything should give off the same message.

Branding isn’t just about logos, imagery and how thinks look – it’s also important to have a brand language or tone, and stick to it across all media and forms of communication. This branding language should be created and decided upon with your target audience specifically in mind. Words and imagery should work seamlessly together to create a personality for your brand. Here are some questions to ask if you’re trying to create your branding:

If your brand was a person, who would it be?

What is your brand’s personality?

What is the key message you are trying to portray?

What mood do you want to create?

What is the role of this element? (website, labelling etc

Let’s look at a famous brand as an example. One of the most successful tech companies of all time, Apple, has a very clear brand identity. Not every single Apple product or packaging is identical, yet it is always very obvious that it’s an Apple product. This is down to the branding. Here are some words which come to mind when you look at an Apple product or webpage:

Sleek

Luxury

Minimalist

Modern

Classy

Contemporary

Stylish

Innovativ

When a brand is as clear as Apple, it’s easy to think of many descriptions to describe it. However, when a brand identity isn’t as strong and successful, people may find it difficult to place your brand – and therefore struggle to decide whether it is right for their lifestyle.

Think of the words you want people to use to say about your brand – and then work to convey those messages.