What goes into a brand identity? Understanding the components of a brand and defining the ROI of a strong brand identity.
Alright, let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat — say it with us now — a brand is not just a logo, a brand is not just a logo! It’s that classic square vs rectangle debacle we’ve all been learning about since we were 8 — a logo is a part of your brand, but your brand is not just a logo.
We’re not bashing the logo here, it’s actually an inevitably crucial part of your brand identity, which is probably why so many people conflate the two. But, your brand goes well beyond your visual identity and actually includes both qualitative & quantitative and internal & external components.
Okay, EnticEdge, let’s say a brand does go beyond a logo. What else is included?
Well, we’re glad you asked!
A brand is your company’s entire identity. It’s the who, what, why, and how of your entire organization. And, like we said, it includes both quantitative and qualitative components, meaning, there are some aspects of a brand that are completely objective — you can put a number to them, A/B test them until you’re blue in the face, and actually see them. On the other hand, there are a large number of brand components that are subjective experiences — that evoke a feeling or attitude and provoke a behavior in response. We know we’re breaking our engineering team’s hearts when we say this but, a big part of your brand identity is emotional and not something you can stick a dataset on.
Let’s break down everything that’s included in your brand identity. And, for the record, we think you could argue that brand encompasses even more components than what are listed here. However, in our experience, if you’ve got these 8 items clearly defined and your team consistently aligned around them (and please do not underestimate that part of the equation), you’re well on your way to having a stellar, stand-out brand.
Understanding the components of a brand
Mission and vision
Let’s start on the top, left-hand side of that diagram above.Your mission & vision statements are why your company exists, why it matters and where you are going. If you have employees or team members who have completely disengaged from your organization, are hard to motivate or inconsistently productive, you might have to revisit or re-communicate your mission and vision. They’re generally 3-10 word statements that communicate why the company was started and what they hope to achieve in a perfect world. These statements are easier said than written. Your company might have 8 different solutions and 4 different target audiences and the idea of distilling everything down into a single sentence that’s concise and repeatable might be daunting. But, trust us, when you get your mission and vision right, your company and team will be virtually unstoppable. And, don’t forget, sub-teams and departments can have their own mission & vision statements too! How do you support the vision of the larger organization? Why does your team exist? Why does your work matter? It’s nothing new here — people have been searching for meaning and purpose since the dawn of time, and if you give your team that meaning on a silver platter, you’ll motivate your team and drive better results for your bottom line.
Ultimately, your mission & vision are a huge part of your brand identity because without them your company or team simply wouldn’t have a point.
Values
This one’s a biggie in today’s marketplace. Customers, especially in recent years, want to buy from companies who are good, and we agree! It’s about time companies were transparent about their values and what they stand for, and on top of just being a step in the right direction for humanity, it’s also a great way to connect with your customers and improve your products/solutions to actually meet their needs.
You know how you just know when someone is giving you a fake laugh or a fake smile? Bear with us, we promise this comes back full circle. There’s actually quite a bit of research to support the fact that faking genuineness actually leads to distrust, and there’s nothing worse you could do for your customers or your business than spark distrust.
So, when you set your values, make them genuine. Don’t put out values that you can’t uphold or that feel performative or inauthentic to your team or your brand. Remember, you can have multiple sets of values. Maybe some are external, and some are internal. These values also give your team members an important part of the company guidebook. Maybe each sub-team has their own authentic edge and work against different guidelines. Either way, your values give your brand life. They explain how you operate, and the type of person who would resonate with your company.
Key differentiators
We know we just said values is a biggie, but key differentiators is a huge-y.
We like to call your key differentiators or value propositions, your authentic edge. They’re what make you different from competitors and what sets you apart in the market. Here’s the kicker — most people can’t speak to these succinctly. When asked what their company does, why they’re different, why that matters, most team members will stumble. In fact, that scenario is so common that it’s the entire reason we developed Cornerpiece® to help team members keep their key messaging top of mind and at-the-ready with quick access for when an opportunistic moment arises. Understanding key differentiators in the context of your brand is essential for growth.
If you don’t have an authentic edge, a.k.a. any key differentiators, you won’t have a stand-out brand. You may as well be building a company that’s the equivalent of an off-brand, white box that says “juice” on it at the grocery store. It’s not going to sell and there’s a good chance no one at your company is motivated to sell it better either. Main takeaway? Your key differentiators drive your brand — they give it an edge and something to brag about.
Team alignment
But EnticEdge, team alignment isn’t really a thing, how is it included in a strong brand identity? Isn’t that something you do with a brand once you have it? Yes, and yes! Aligning your team is what gives your brand a consistent and unbreakable experience for your customers. Your team needs to be aligned in order to cultivate a strong brand identity and you need to continue to align your team using your strong brand identity once you have one in place. Aligning your team is a forever and always concept. If our company could get a tattoo, it would say “clarity <3 alignment,” because in every facet of your brand (and frankly your company at large), you need clarity and alignment on what it is you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and why.
Without an aligned team, you have a weak and inconsistent brand. With an aligned team, you have a reinforced, unstoppable brand for your company or team.
Alright, let’s turn to the traditionally external-facing components of your brand identity on the right side of the diagram. Remember that thing? It’s way up at the top now…
Logo and color palette
Whoomp there it is 💥
Your logo, color palette, look and feel — those often dictate your first impression. And, believe us, when we say that first impression is IMPORTANT. We even capitalized it at the expense of angering our editors (hi, Bridgette 👋) so you know we’re serious. In general, you have less than 10 seconds to make a first impression on a potential client, customer, partner, team member, human, etc. This is where we start to blur the lines between qualitative and quantitative. Your logo and visual identity can leverage data, psychology, and research to prompt a targeted response, but, at the end of the day, we’re trying to evoke an emotional response and we all know how unpredictable those can be.
When it comes to your brand identity, your logo and style guide (color palette, typography, iconography, background/foreground assets, watermarks, image balance, etc.) need to be consistent. Above all else, a strong logo requires consistency to build brand loyalty. Overtime, that consistency will increase visibility, build community, establish credibility, and lead to opportunity.
Brand voice and personality
If your logo is your first impression, your brand voice or personality is probably your second. A great example of the impact of a strong brand personality is Mint Mobile — with Ryan Reynolds producing ads that feel more like standup and less like a phone carrier commercial, you can’t help but relate to the brand. Now, that doesn’t mean that your company has to be founded by a celebrity or crack constant jokes to have an impactful brand voice, but it does give you an example of how that brand personality can evoke a real feeling from its audience.
Defining your voice and personality gives your target market a sense of how your company acts and what it would be like to be friends (aka trust, rely on, and gain buy-in) with your company. Maybe you’re a fintech company trying to strike the balance between trustworthy and modern, or a consulting firm trying to find the perfect blend of tongue-and-cheek readability and reliable expertise 😉 Regardless of the voice your brand develops, it’s important to be consistent and to lean in to the genuine, authentic culture and personality of your team and company at large.
Key messaging
Your key messaging is what you use to communicate all of the above components to your target audiences. It fills your website, digital marketing collateral, content, presentations, posts, and it’s what your team uses to speak to your company’s ability to provide a solution for your target market’s pain points. Most importantly for a strong brand identity, your key messaging needs to be value-focused, concise, repeatable, and meaningful. Then, customize it specifically for each audience so that you speak to what each audience most values. How you communicate your company’s value to its market should be clear and consistent so that your potential customers can quickly understand and envision how your products/solutions would add value to their lives.
Website and digital marketing
Your website and digital marketing efforts are the extension of your brand identity that links you to your customers. While your customers and potential customers might not be interacting with your mission statement every day, they could certainly be interacting with your content or your website on a regular basis. Your website and digital presence advocate for your company and communicate your key messaging 24/7. That’s a big responsibility and takes a lot of team maintenance to uphold, but it’s an absolutely critical part of your brand identity. Even with the best logo, the coolest personality, and the most empathetic mission statement, your brand, company, and solutions will be judged by your website, social accounts, and other digital materials. Keeping these components up to date, accessible, and engaging is vital to standing out amongst a crowd of competitors, and is how your brand identity lives on in the real world!
Busy running a business or leading a team? We’ll help you craft a clear brand and train your team for consistency.
Alright, we’ve got brand identity down. What’s the return on investment (ROI) here? Why should I invest in a creating a strong brand internally and externally?
The return on investment of a strong brand can be broken down into improving community, visibility, credibility, and opportunity for both team members and existing/potential customers. Looking across these different growth factors, we can begin to see the irrefutable ROI of a clear, consistent brand.
Community
Building strong community for your team and for your customers is foundational for company growth or division success. Internally, an intentional community fosters an engaged and empowered team that is all rowing in the same direction and with the same goal in mind. The success of your brand will always be dependent on the involvement of your team. Team members who are clear on guidelines, aligned on mission and brand voice, and equipped to make sound decisions against a clearly defined benchmark for decision-making, will bolster your brand, build community, and improve productivity. In fact, “97% of workers and employers believe that the lack of team alignment influences the success of a task or project.”
For your customers (present & future), community becomes your loyal customer base — the people who support your work because your entire brand identity (all 8 components listed above) resonates with their needs and desires. Your brand identity is a foundational aspect of your customer experience, it defines the guidelines for the entire interaction with your company and communicates who your company is, what it does, how it does it, and why. According to Qualtrics, “positive customer experiences directly impact loyalty, and that loyalty manifests as sales won or lost. On average, organizations risk losing 9.5% of their revenue due to bad experiences, while 85% of consumers are likely to purchase more after a very good experience.”
In short, your brand cultivates your community. A strong brand means you’ve created space for a loyal customer base and a productive and engaged team, all of which contribute to growth and will affect your bottom line when it’s all said and done.
Visibility
Visibility is a simple concept of your brand ROI: if people aren’t seeing or noticing your brand, or if your brand doesn’t stand out from competitors, then you’ve lost your lead with that potential customer. In short, if people don’t know about your company, it can’t grow.
As we mentioned, your logo and personality are typically your first and second impressions, and those impressions happen fast. According to 8ways, people will typically form an impression about your website in less than one second. Having a clear & aligned brand identity improves the chances of someone spending more than just the one second interacting with your solutions. For your team, we typically think about brand improving visibility in terms of giving your team a benchmark for decision-making. With a clear & aligned brand identity, your team understands the what, who, how, and why of their day-to-day decisions and workflows. This leads to improved retention and increased drive and empowerment to make sound, aligned decisions without wasting resources from upper management or even the C-suite.
Credibility
Credibility is probably one of the most significant points of ROI from a clear & aligned brand identity, and, again, it’s a pretty straightforward concept: If your brand is clear and aligned, your customers and your team will trust you and your products to serve their needs. You might have a great community and excellent visibility, but without credibility, you can’t expect your customers or your team to buy-in to your mission or solutions.
A strong brand gives its customers and team something to believe in, solutions and processes to trust and rely on. It’s for this reason that “high-trust companies are more than 2½ times more likely to be high performing revenue organizations,” and the reason that “77 percent of consumers buy from brands that share the same values as they do.” When your brand elicits and earns the trust of its customers and/or team members, you increase revenue by optimizing value chains for both your customers and your team.
Opportunity
We’ve reached the heavy hitter. Investing in a clear and aligned brand from all 8 angles (remember those from all the way up top?), will increase the number of opportunities afforded to your organization. That could mean stronger employee output and engagement, better sales and higher revenue, stronger resilience to market changes, and more. Investing in a strong brand identity increases employee engagement, and we know that “companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable” than companies with weak brands and subsequently low employee engagement. And, investing in a strong brand identity provides a positive experience for your customers, and we know that “a customer who’s had a positive experience is 4.3x more likely to trust a brand, 5.1x more likely to recommend them, and 3.5x more likely to purchase again.”
