Brand identity is how the customer perceives your company image. This may be by the physical aspects, such as, identifying your brand name with a particular product. For example, any individual will identify say ‘Colgate with toothpaste. The other side of brand identity is emotional perception. For example, the same brand may be identified by school-going children with clean teeth and oral hygiene.
How you want your brand identity to shape up depends on how you are able to influence people s image of you as a corporate entity. It is the visual image of a company as seen by its clients. To put it very simply, it is a part of the branding process that gives birth to a unique personality for your product.
If you extend the definition to website, you might want to remember that you are establishing your brand identity in front of potential customers you will never see or who will never see you.
Brand identity is developed when the customer uses all his senses to perceive the brand. For example, he may identify it with a certain tune he hears on the radio or by a certain advert he sees on the TV. He may have read brochures that tell him about the product (touch) or he may have been given free samples to try. All this put together helps him form a certain perception about the brand. The more this perception is in line with the company aims, the more successful their brand is. The more number of people know you, the better your business will grow.
These are some tips:
• Decide who your target clients are going to be. Is your product for women? Is it for college kids? Are you interested in the corporate executives?
• How do you wish your product to be perceived by your target market? Do you want them to associate your product with cleanliness, taste or looking good?
• Have it distinguish itself from the competition. What does your product have that your competitors do not? Do you have bigger sizes? Better prices? Special features in your product? Convey that in your brand identity.
• Now reach for your target market again and again. Remind them about what your product can do for them. Once they remember your corporate face, they will learn to identify your brand anywhere.
As far as developing an online brand identity is concerned, the costs of making it known across the market costs very little.
Author: Sam Desouza