This guide is a comprehensive one that covers all the basics of corporate branding. From what it is and why a business should do it, to how a business should go about researching for brands and themes, followed by examples of effective rebrands, this guide will cover everything from start to finish. After defining what corporate branding is and why it’s beneficial, the guide goes on to discuss how to go about finding your brand and themes.
What is corporate branding?
Many people think that branding is only picking logos and colors, but it really isn’t. A proper corporate branding strategy involves much more than just colors, visual design choices, and typography. Branding is about crafting an experience for the customer through the use of every element that makes up your business.
Choosing the right name for your brand can be integral to creating a positive, lasting impression in the minds of your customers. Using a brand name service will help you choose a name that resonates with your audience and is not already in use by another business. Picking the right name for your brand is going to give you a clearer vision of your brand and should be done before you move forward with anything else.
Everything from visual aspects like your logo and website to your tone of voice to the styles and levels of service you use when interacting with clients all needs to be considered as part of your branding strategy. Without a strong branding strategy, even if your logo is made well and people like it, it won’t matter because everything else about your business will make potential customers run in the other direction.
Corporate branding is done to achieve a consistent image of your company. This is usually done through visual design, messaging, and tone of voice. A good example would be Coca-Cola’s very recognizable logo or Dominoes’ easily identifiable mascot. These are effective examples of branding because the logo and mascot are nearly inseparable from their parent companies. This is because both were designed with purpose and intention to balance aesthetic appeal and authenticity.
What is the business need for corporate branding?
Corporate branding allows a business to maintain a unified and consistent image. It can help distinguish your company from its competitors and allow customers an easier time identifying it. Many companies see this as very important because they want people to be able to quickly and easily tell their product apart from similar ones, especially on crowded shelves.
There are some ways that corporate branding differs from company to company. Some companies prefer their brands to show off what makes them unique and special, while others simply want to appear as professional as possible or easily identifiable by using widely recognized symbols or colors. Regardless of your preference, there is a way for you to achieve this through the process of corporate branding.
What Should be My First Step?
As you begin the process of corporate branding, it is important to keep in mind that there is no one way to do it and that it will vary from business to business. That being said, there are some general steps that you can follow when building your business strategy. Before even thinking of your own brand, you should explore how other businesses are using branding:
1.) Research: studying successful branding campaigns can help give you ideas to apply to your own brand. Take into consideration the company’s strategy, audience, and purpose for branding before moving on.
2.) Strategy: It is important that a company goes into this process with clearly defined goals and strategies. Before finding a brand or theme, it is essential to know what you want to communicate to your audience.
How do I go about corporate branding?
Developing your brand strategy is the building block in branding a company. A strong brand identity should consist of several components: Brand Name, Brand Slogan, Logo Design, Typography, Color Scheme, and Mascot.
Once you have all of your components ready to go, it is time to choose the right typeface for your text. There are many different types of fonts out there, but choosing one that fits with your brand will have a huge effect on how people perceive your company.
Once you have all of this together, you can begin designing your signature. This will usually be a combination of the company logo and the brand slogan that goes along with it. It is important to design a sign that is easily recognizable and memorable.
You can then begin designing your marketing materials by finding the appropriate colors to use as a brand. This will usually be done through research of successful brands of similar companies. Once you see what has been successful for other businesses, you can apply those lessons to your own company.
What does a good logo consist of?
In order to have a good logo, it is important to keep in mind that you want your logo to be easily recognizable, memorable, and versatile. It should also look good with or without its text. This can be achieved by using simple shapes and forms, as well as many different colors. It is also important to not use too many fonts because this can severely affect legibility.
A good logo should not only be used for decoration but rather to communicate something about the business. The logo can act as shorthand for what your company does.
What are effective rebrands?
There have been many companies that have made changes to their branding in order to target a new audience or update their image. We will look briefly at a few of these rebrands to see what makes them effective.
An example of an effective rebranding is Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. This campaign aimed to put forward the idea that “real beauty” doesn’t have a specific definition and goes much deeper than physical appearance. Their logo redesign captures this idea by staying away from typical feminine symbols in order to represent the idea that “real beauty” is not about physical appearance.
Another example of an effective rebranding can be seen with Apple’s logo redesign in 2010. The main change was the font and form of the text, but it also changed colors from a variety of blues to just one color, silver. This made their brand more sleek and modern, which was very effective in portraying their new products that were launched around this time.
Another successful rebrand can be seen with Coca-Cola’s 2009 redesign. This logo very much kept the same elements as before but made them all simpler and more modern looking. The font changed from a typical serif font to a sans serif font, while also changing to white versus red. This rebrands was very effective in that it modernized their image, which gave them a more youthful feel, while still being recognizable.
A good corporate branding strategy is built on strong values and what you want to communicate to your audience. Once you have your logo, marketing materials, colors scheme, mascot, and other aspects figured out, you need to let that guide your branding strategy.