It may have seemed unimportant in the past for small companies to put too much thought into a Brand Identity kit.

However, in today’s mostly digital and highly competitive marketplace it is absolutely essential that every company develop its own distinctive identity – from multinational corporate giants to small mom and pop businesses.

This is just as important for businesses that are growing their market as it is for start up businesses. Even if you have been in operation for years, consider whether you know the answers to the questions mentioned below.

Ask yourself

In order to develop the components of a brand identity kit, of course, you must first answer the question, “What is your corporate Identity?”

Now this can seem like a huge question but when it is broken down the process of answering can be easier to manage. This is why we work with our clients to explore their identity using a brand strategy workbook. The brand strategy workbook is what we like to call ‘your road map to success’. 

The first step of the process begins by answering the question, ‘Why?’.

"Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY, I mean your purpose, cause or belief - WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care? People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it” ~ Simon Sinek, Start With Why

Next we must identify your company’s mission, vision and values. Your mission is the core purpose of your business, it is the reason that your company exists. Your vision is what achieving your mission looks like. Your values are what you stand for. These are the integrity of your company. These three components are the anchor of your company and should remain constant regardless of growth and change. 

Delve deeper

Once you have an overall idea of your mission, visions and values it is time to explore a little further. To develop a thorough brand identity it is important to dissect the following components: personality, tone of voice, and culture. And from there we move deeper still to produce brand positioning, write a brand promise, and identify your target market.

 

There are many exercises that can be helpful when developing the aforementioned components. Look at brands you like and those that you don’t like – dissect their corporate identities. Identify keywords that resonate with you. Make lists, not only of what you want your company to be but also what you do not want to be. 

As you can see this is a multi-faceted approach but each and every one of these is important to inform the overall brand direction and determine how your brand will act in various situations. All of these components directly affect both your image and identity. For further information on corporate identity and image see our previous article.

Try this: Consider the above questions. Sit down with a piece of paper and write your thoughts down. Now ask your partners, employees, friends to do the same for your company. Did they answer the same or similar? If not you’ve got some work to do.

What to include

Once you’ve done the tough work and have a clear idea of your corporate identity then you can move onto the production of brand assets. Use your brand identity to guide your decisions – remember it is your anchor and consistency is key.

We recommend you start with a strong corporate logo. This can then be expanded into other assets: website, business cards and letterhead, brochures/catalogs, print and digital advertising, and even email templates. 

Regardless of company size, even if you do not use all of these components, uniform presentation is key. Radically changing visuals is best avoided as it can lead to confusion and a feeling of instability. This is why we highly recommend developing a complete brand identity kit from the start. If you must change your logo and subsequent visuals we recommend only doing so once. If you have an existing identity package that you would like to update or modernize it is important that core visuals remain recognizable. 

All aspects of the brand identity kit should be cohesive and fit within your corporate identity. When in doubt go back to questions – they will give you the answers. 

Filed in // Brand Identity, Business