S0o what are the steps in establishing uniqueness? How can you create a ‘unique’ brand, but avoid becoming too niche, or alienating your target audience?
When establishing your brand identity there are some important questions you should ask yourself:
- What makes you business/product or service unique?
- Who is your target audience and how do they interact with your business?
- What do you do that others in your industry do not?
- What’s you story?
- What message/tone of voice are you wanting to convey?
Establishing the answers to these questions will help you understand your business better, it’s positioning within the industry, and how best to communicate with your customers.
Be Unique
Remember, even if you’re delivering the same, or a similar, product or service to another business you will have a different story to tell. Use your story, the history of you business, or anecdotal facts about your route to market to set yourself apart from your competitors.
Tell people what makes your business different. Perhaps you have something unique as part of your manufacturing process or you deliver outstanding customer service? Or is there some social impact that can be used as the basis of your mission statement or marketing to engage the public.
Establish a brand voice
Find a style that suits your company personality, and create a brand tone of voice that demonstrates how you want to be seen and heard by your audience and wider marketplace. It must be a voice that resonates with your target audience.
A strong brand and logo is vital. They make your business and products or services easily recognisable, and communicate what you stand for. It’s easy to think of brand name and logo as separate elements, however people commonly associate both together as they appear on pretty much every piece of promotional material that you create including; business cards, letterheads, your website, social networking sites and the products themselves.
Colour Considerations
When creating your name and logo think colour! Different colours and shades have an inescapable power to convey authority or weakness, excitement or relaxation; therefore, careful consideration needs to be given when choosing your colour palate to ensure you are conveying the image you intend.
It is obvious that different colours can mean something personal to different people. However, there is significant psychological research behind the emotions that different colours evoke in the human psyche. Here are some examples of the general emotions and reactions to a couple of colours to get you thinking:
- BLACK – authority, power, sophistication, contemporary style, the night time
- WHITE – purity, innocence, cleanliness, truth, peace, coldness and sterility
- GREY – authority, practicality, creativity, security, reliability, modesty and maturity
- GREEN – health, freedom, tranquillity, nature, growth, envy, wealth, value
Seek a second opinion
When you have got your brand name and logo options together test them amongst friends, family, team members and even potential customers to see which they connect with the most strongly. It’s important to trial your ideas before investing in all of your marketing materials, just in case they spot something you have missed.
Secure your brand
Once you’ve created your brand, consider if it is something you would like to Trademark, to ensure other competitors can’t use it in the future, and secure your domain name and social media handles.
Look out for top tip number four: Marketing Strategy
