The Importance of Brand Identity

Over the past decades, great importance has been given to the notion of brand identity since it has become a powerful factor in determining whether or not a business will have longevity or not. It is a field laden in expertise and many fledgling companies are rushing to get the best consultations they could find to create the ideal brand identity for them.

Perhaps you might be considering why it is an imperative to spend time furnishing brand identity, when its not really measurable. Why should one waste a enormous piece of the budget to create something that is for the part intangible?

Well, in this article, we’ll try and tell you why exactly you need a cohesive brand identity and how it can shape the success of your business, whether you are a fledgling company or not.

What is brand identity?

Essentially, brand identity is how your business looks and feels to your customers. It’s very similar to a person’s actual identity/personality. The most conspicuous part of a brand identity are the business name, logos, the fonts, the colors, etc. Other markers of brand identity is much more intricate – these are the ways in which the company interacts with the public. Everything form the tone of the voice, the values that are upheld, the humour etc.

Eg: Everyone in the world will be able to recognize Nike because of their symbol yet powerful logo – the tick – and their tagline, ‘Just do it’. These two entities is more than enough to imprint an image of the brand and what it holds into the minds of consumers. Similarly, Coco Cola, Pepsi, Apple, and many more brands have an identity that is instantly recognisable.

Getting an Upper Hand over your Competitor

Brand identity is important because it makes you stand out from your competitors, especially if the both of you have almost the same USPs. There will be a almost nothing to separate the two of your except how your brand is perceived. The perfect example of this dichotomy is between Apple and Microsoft.

Although they both have almost the same amount of specs, the brand identity of Microsoft pales in comparison to Apple. The latter has poured in millions of dollars to create an image that is the epitome of ‘cool’, ‘hip’, ‘trendy’. The end result of this successful brand identity is that they can demand higher prices for their products than their competitors. In a competitive marketplace if you can shape a better brand identity that your competitors, then you are sure to succeed.

Building Permanent Loyalty

With a good brand identity, you’ll be abel to rope in a legion of followers who will read your every word as gospel. Exhaustive research has shown that companies with a strong brand identity will mostly retain their customers for the long run.

Instead of investing on one term sales, companies with great foresight will be able to mould their brand identities in such a way that their customers will keep coming back to them. Research has shown that 90% of consumers stay loyal to one particular brand.

With a brand identity that one can remember as well is able to have a strong sense of values, customers will keep coming back to even if the prices were to increase. It doesn’t matter whether you exist in a niche market or a general one, as long as you have an easy to recall identity the customers stick with you.

The dichotomy with Apple and Microsoft is yet another classic example. So is Pepsi and Coca Cola.

Roping in the Talent

A strong brand identity will also mean you’ll be able to corner the talent pool in a market. This is yet another important reason for you to have a strong brand identity. Individuals would want to work with a brand that will help them with their careers or share the same values as they do.

Of course you can choose your brand values, but it has to be more or less be in tandem with the trending values at the time. Also with a brand identity that is more popular than your competitors, the talent pool will choose to work with your for lower wages compared to others. They would just want to be associated with your brand for that itself will be an accomplishment to them.

In Summary

If you still think that trying to get a good brand identity is a huge waste of time then you will be supposed by your competitors. The aforementioned points make it amply clear why brand identities can be the way towards for your business. Choose to have your brand identity done with a professional now and rise above your competitors.