Branding: How to Build a Brand? Your step-by-step guide

What is a brand?

If we were to define a brand, there are many ways to do so. At least, that's what we do when we operate our Branding Services. Essentially, a brand refers to a comprehensive identity, encompassing both visual and iconographic elements. For example, names like McDonald's or Coca-Cola immediately evoke specific color palettes or advertising campaigns. This refers to the brand in question, which we'll delve into in this guide.

A brand can be explained as a concept launched into a market to convey a specific message or emotion to its audience. This message follows a unique strategic direction that allows it to differentiate itself from competitors in the same sector. It serves not only to establish your company's reputation but also to build customer loyalty.

For example, Apple as a brand consistently conveys a message of technology that is accessible, user-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing. In contrast, Microsoft emphasizes efficiency, robustness, and performance in its brand message. All of these aspects reflect a differentiated and strategic brand message.

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What constitutes a brand?

Firstly, a brand is defined by its discourse and value proposition. Once these choices are made, evaluated, and approved, you can consider creating your visual identity: logo, typography, color palette, illustrations, icons, photographs, etc. It would be unwise to do one before the other as they must align with the brand's identity.

1) Its Values

The primary objective of a brand is always to be distinctive and memorable. To achieve this, expressing your values—especially your human values—is crucial. Whether generosity, kindness, or intelligence, these values speak for themselves and allow you to deeply connect with your audience. It's important to consistently uphold these values; for example, if your brand promotes environmental responsibility, this should be reflected consistently across all your communications. This commitment helps build credibility and establishes trust with your audience.

2) Its Message

Your brand inevitably has a message to convey to consumers. If not your brand, then you as an entrepreneur do. There must be a reason why you chose to create this particular company over another, and that reason should be articulated in your brand message. By telling your story, you humanize your business and explain why you are the right choice. This narrative, known as storytelling in marketing, forms the basis from which you can communicate your message. Furthermore, it inspires the art director to visually translate your story. Therefore, the more information you share, the more faithfully your values will be represented.

3) Its a Target Audience

First and foremost, who are you addressing? This question is critical before launching any initiative. Creating a persona is the best way to visualize your target audience clearly and concretely. By clearly projecting who you are addressing, you can tailor your message and values to better resonate with them. To truly understand your target audience and their needs, conducting in-depth consumer research to grasp their current preferences and behaviors is recommended. As you know, timing is crucial in business success.

4) Its Visual Identity 

Visual identity encompasses everything that defines your brand, including the logo, packaging, colors, typography, aesthetics, slogan, website, content, etc. Each element is chosen precisely to align with the brand's message and target audience. Together, these elements constitute the brand image and convey the emotions it aims to evoke.

Step 1: Brand Strategy

1) Identify Your Target

Audience Begin by considering whom you want to reach and why. We recommend creating a user profile—a model of your ideal customer—including their interests, lifestyle, aspirations, and even socio-economic and political criteria. Your task (or our task) will be to research your ideal audience and thoroughly understand their consumer habits, as well as which brands they currently favor. This information will enable you to better understand and reach them.

2) Identify Consumer Needs

Once you have gathered sufficient information, put it into practice. What will you do with this information, and which insights will you rely on most? Your brand's role is to present your offering as the best solution to their problem. By studying your audience's various issues, you can assess their needs and prioritize them accordingly. Be careful not to try to solve all their problems, as this is neither feasible nor your objective. You want to be clear, and concise and avoid confusing your target audience.

3) Identify Market Trends

It's crucial to conduct a competitive analysis to understand your competitors and their positioning. This understanding will help you stand out by identifying their strengths and weaknesses. The goal is to ask yourself, "Why should it be you and not someone else?" Conducting a competitive mapping exercise will help you recognize the "blue ocean" opportunities in your market. Once you have done this, you can make informed decisions. You don't want to replicate an "Apple" or "Zara"; instead, find a market opportunity and niche that matches your target audience's needs before even considering creating your brand message or, better yet, your branding.

4) Your Positioning

Your brand positioning summarizes what you do and for whom, based on your analysis from the previous section. For example, our positioning is, "The Bract Agency is a marketing agency that combines performance and design for ambitious entrepreneurs." This statement reflects our services, unique selling proposition, and target audience, and clarifies both our audience's values and ours.

Your brand positioning should be:

• Distinctive: It should set you apart from the competition.
• Attractive: It should appeal to your audience.
• Memorable: It should leave a lasting impression on consumers.
• And credible: It should inspire confidence and trust.

You could potentially use your brand positioning as a slogan, but don't worry too much about this aspect; the goal of this phrase is to be as clear as possible, both for you and your team.

5) Establish an Artistic Direction / Moodboard

Defining an artistic direction is crucial but not straightforward. Here, your art director (or ours) will understand your message, positioning, and target audience to find the best imagery that resonates with your audience. The goal is to define the visual universe in which you want to position yourself. This will be reflected in your website, social media, visuals, and advertisements. Conduct extensive research and aim not to copy but to draw inspiration.

Step 2: Graphic Design: Branding

1) Logo Creation

The logo encapsulates all the work done beforehand. Every choice of shape, color, texture, graphic, and font is justified. There are several types of logos (abstract logos, mascot logos, emblematic logos, icon logos), and it's up to you to choose the one that best suits your brand image.

2) Color Palettes

Colors have psychological effects and can complement each other. Following the color wheel can be useful, but your color palette must make sense! Don't choose blue just because all your competitors in tech or banking use it; dare to differentiate yourself! Express yourself!

3) Typography

Typography should always be as readable as possible and suitable for your brand's personality. Opt for simplicity; the simpler the font, the more memorable it will be on your logo or website.

4) Visual Identity

If you decide to use images or illustrations, ensure they are relevant and add real value to your design. They will enrich your logo and immediately capture your attention. An image can evoke emotion or memory, so it's crucial to choose wisely. You can use a realistic 3D visual for a direct impact or an illustration for a more storytelling approach. Choose what best suits the message you want to convey.

5) Icon Creation

Your brand's icons make it easy to identify a concept and create visual consistency. These icons allow your brand to be applied across different media or create a visual language. The choice of icons must align with the graphic charter and be coherent and intuitive to the eye.

Step 3: Creating Other Branding Elements

1) Website

Once you have established a branding type, you can create the appropriate design. Start with benchmarking inspirational sites from your competitors and create a mood board to define the overall ambiance you want to convey.

2) How to Design Packaging?

Packaging is the element that showcases the product, aiming to appeal to and seduce consumers. Its function is to convey information about the product. Designing packaging involves four stages: Research: What's out there? How can you stand out? Sketches: Brainstorm your ideas on paper. Design: Apply the brand's graphic charter to the product and incorporate information with values (e.g., organic stamp). Mockup: Integrate the design into a mockup to visualize its impact.

Step 4: Visual Recognition

Maintaining harmony and visual recognition across all media, particularly between your website and social media, is essential. This is exemplified by Cartier's branding, which remains consistent and minimalist, recognizable across different platforms.

Avoid changing the design of new products. For example, when creating a new product, always refer back to your initial message: if it's about human connection, stick with that theme.

Why consider rebranding?

When should you consider rebranding? The goal is to review your brand's identity. Several types of rebranding exist:

- Brand Reboot: A brand that has been around for a while and is beginning to show its age. Old codes no longer work, and there's a plateau in growth. Example: Airbnb, adjusting its international image to better match its global success as a startup.

- Brand Refresh: As the name suggests, this involves refreshing the brand. Example: Dunkin' Donuts simplifies to Dunkin', maintaining identity while broadening its scope.

- Brand Merger: Acquiring another brand. Example: Disney acquired Pixar, becoming Disney Pixar to enhance its expertise.

The merger between two companies: Example: Square and Enix, two Japanese video game brands joining forces to become Square Enix.

Name Change: A radical change in visual identity, rare but necessary during a strategic shift. Example: Thomson becoming Technicolor.

Who to contact to create a brand?

1) Branding agency

Calling upon an expert branding agency in this field can prove to be useful, even essential, to avoid any mistakes right from the inception of your brand. Starting on a solid foundation is crucial if you want your business to endure. Seeking professionals not only allows you to benefit from their expertise but also saves you time. At The Bract Agency, we offer all the necessary services for creating your brand from A to Z.

2) Freelancer

Freelancers generally focus more on specific tasks and can be beneficial if you're not looking to commit long-term. However, it's only after a few exchanges that you can truly evaluate their work, which could potentially consume time.

3) Expert Consultants

A consultant is different—they primarily advise you on your project. They can assist with strategy but won't handle the actual design. Their expertise can be valuable, but like freelancers, they assist in a specific area.

To conclude, yes, it's already the end

Creating a brand may seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. Like everything else, creating a brand follows a process. Reach out directly to professionals in their respective fields and don't hesitate to invest from the outset. This can only propel your success and set you on the growth path.

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