Building the brand or branding is one of the first aspects to be addressed when a project is launched. What will it look like? How will customers identify the company? Within branding, the brand is the most distinctive element. It is often said that a company’s brand is its identity. It is true that identity is something much more complex and made up of different elements that are not always under our control. But if we refer to the corporate identity, to public image, to what identifies the organisation, the brand ends up being the way in which people recognise it and through which they know what it represents, and branding is key to this. In this post we will tell you about three basic elements that you must take into account in order to approach branding successfully.
A great brand succeeds when people love it, trust it and want to have a bond with it. On the contrary, a bad brand can sink even the best business model. Just ask any of the managers of the many companies that have failed after changing their company’s name to a new one to give it a different feel, hide a discredited past or simply reposition themselves, and ended up ostracising the company. Not everyone gets a rebranding project right.
Every company should have a strong brand because it helps differentiate you from the competition and tells customers who you are and what you offer them. Let’s look at the three key elements of corporate branding that help to make a brand recognisable and coherent.
1. The brand logo
The logo is the symbol or emblem of a company. It must be unique and recognisable, simple, coherent and scalable. The latter means that it must be able to adapt to the spaces where it is to be performed. It is not the same to apply it to a social network avatar as it is to a street sign on a building. It should therefore be possible to adjust and even extract elements from it in order to use them, in fact, for different purposes. This is where a distinction must be made between logotype, logotype, isologotype and isotype:
- Although we normally use the part for the whole, the logo is, strictly speaking, the graphic representation of the brand generated only with letters, words or typographic characters.
- The imagotype is a visual representation that accompanies the name. It can be an object, an animal or a geometric composition, but it always appears next to the name or logo. The possibilities are endless.
- The isologotype is a combination of logotype and logo: the former is such an indissoluble part of the latter that they cannot be separated. It is inseparable.
- Finally, the isotype is only the visual representation of the brand. It is identifiable on its own, without the name, and is often what we use in small boxes, such as the icon of a mobile application or the avatar of a social network.
The logo, or any of the four options above, should be neither too large nor too small, but somewhere in the middle of these two extremes so that it can be legible in any medium, such as business cards, websites, etc. It is, in short, one of the most recognisable aspects of corporate branding. This is the first of the three key elements for branding.
2. Corporate colours
Just as colours can evoke a certain mood, they can also be used to convey a personality. Nor is it just about aesthetics; colours are often chosen to reflect the culture and values of an organisation.
For example, if you are choosing colours for your company’s website or logo, you should consider how they will affect customers’ perception of your brand. Do you want them to feel energetic? Do you want them to feel that the organisation is fun? Is the company’s character serious? Is it proud?
By choosing colours that match the above qualities (and avoiding those that don’t), you will help ensure that the user experience matches what they expect from you, and may even make them feel good about themselves.
3. The style of expression
The style of expression (wording or verbalisation) of a brand should be consistent across all materials. Although it does not refer to graphic elements, it is also critical in the construction of branding. It is important not to use slang or overly formal language, as this can make your company appear stuffy and out of touch with reality in contact with your audience.
Similarly, it is not advisable to opt for language that is too simple. If you want your brand tone to be friendly and approachable, the best way to achieve this is to use a conversational tone that feels “human”.
However, when it comes down to it, remember: don’t overdo it with acronyms, technical terms or excessively long sentences. In any case, style should be a consequence of basic aspects of the company: its values, its principles and its purpose. Analysing them is essential to find the right style.
In conclusion
The above are the three key elements for the branding of a company. It is important to remember that there are others, such as verbal identity (the way speech is conveyed), musical identity, tone of voice and even architectural identity, as applied to offices or corporate facilities. All of this requires further analysis. It is also important to take advantage of these processes, both in terms of brand building and transformation or rebranding. Do you know how to communicate them in order to contribute to the success of your communication strategy? We’ll tell you more about it in this post on rebranding from the perspective of internal communication.
In any case, if you need more details or want to know more about how we can help you with your branding, please contact us and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
