What is brand identity? Your brand in 5 elements

Introduction

Strong brands are brands with personality. Brands that stand for something and consistently communicate their clear message in words, images and behavior. That is their brand identity. It's important, because a strong brand identity reflects a brand's distinctiveness, creates recognition and ensures that the target group identifies with a brand. That way you can bind customers firmly to your brand.

What is brand identity?

The official definition of brand identity is: the visual elements of a company through which its distinctive core values are communicated to the marketplace. Brand identity is actually the face and voice of your brand; the personality of your brand. Your brand identity reflects a company's core values, through visual elements such as its corporate identity, logo, use of color, brand name, tone of voice and way of communicating. A strong brand identity evokes a feeling in your customer: it makes clear what your brand stands for and what it can offer the customer.

What is a good brand identity?

A good brand identity satisfies a number of conditions:

• He is bright and clear and does not raise questions.
• He tells customers what to expect from the product or service.
• It is consistent: the central message and appearance are the same in every communication expression.

Interpolis: a strong brand identity

A good example of a company with a strong brand identity is Interpolis, which has used the simple slogan "crystal clear" for years. This central message is woven into all of the company's communications: a clean corporate identity with two main colors, simple language and user-friendliness for customers is paramount. Interpolis' brand identity has major implications of the organization's behavior: 'crystal clear' should be central to the entire way of working. A complicated claim procedure, for example, would be at odds with Interpolis' desired image.

Defining your brand identity: how does it work?

Your brand identity helps determine the success of your business. Therefore, it is very important to carefully define that identity. Start by establishing your company's core values. What does your brand stand for? For safety and reliability, or for adventure and challenge? Next, determine the needs of your target audience. What is your target audience sensitive to? What are they looking for and how can your brand connect to that? What are the trends in the market and how can you capitalize on them?

Using a brand identity model

To define your brand identity, it can be helpful to use a brand identity model. This helps you choose a clear line for your business and stick to it. That model can look like the following:

• Target audience: who is your ideal client?
• Core values: what are your company's core values, what is the company culture? Clearly choose distinctiveness here. For example, a core value like "reliable" is very standard and not a value that people immediately remember.
• Message and brand promise: what is your central message, what does your brand stand for, what can customers expect from your brand?
• Positioning: how do you market your brand?
• Communication and strategy: how will you get your message across?
• Implementation: how do you make sure your company works according to your central message? How do you make sure your identity matches your image?

The five elements of a visual brand identity

Having completed your brand identity model, translate that into a visual brand identity. For this, engage a good designer. This may take a little investment, but it will pay for itself in full. Your brand identity consists of the following visual elements:

• Logo
• Font
• Color
• Image
• Tone of voice

Brand identity: the face of your brand

These elements together reflect the character of your business, and each element is equally important. The five visual elements should form a whole and together be the face of your brand. For example, color use says a lot about the nature of your business: if you have a business in baby clothes, then use bright, fresh colors. If you are a business service provider, then business colors like blue are obvious. Also think carefully about the use of images. Do you want to use photos in your communication, or do you prefer illustrations? Should there be people in them, and if so, what should their appearance be? For the recognition of your brand, it is necessary to be consistent with image use.

The voice of your brand: the tone of voice

The tone of voice also says a lot about your brand identity. Language is not actually a visual element, but it is very important to your brand identity. It is the voice of your brand and it should appeal to your target audience. For example, if you start a creative startup targeting young people, that requires a specific form of address. It is a lot more informal than the form of address for members of a pension fund. A tone of voice that connects with the target group ensures that the target group will feel more at home with your brand.

Defining your brand identity together

Defining a brand identity is not something you do alone. The identity must be widely supported in your company and employees must be behind it. Therefore, start working with a group, preferably in collaboration with a specialized agency. Then you can establish a brand identity that is right and that will be implemented in all aspects of your business.

To properly convey your brand identity to your target audience, it is wise to think about writing a brand story. Continue reading about corporate branding which fits well with the topic brand identity and about the meaning and differences between slogans, pay-offs, taglines and mottoes.