Picture this: you’re standing in the yogurt aisle at a major grocery store, tasked with choosing one kind to purchase. If you’re not familiar with the brands and varieties (or even if you are!), you’ll know that it’s not easy.

With so many choices, you find yourself standing there, running through all the decisions you need to make before choosing and eventually purchasing.

“Vanilla or peach? Fruit on the bottom or not? Dannon or Yoplait? Buy three get one free?

You get the idea.

When you’re stuck having to make a decision like this for the first time, it’s easy to just give up or choose what is most convenient. Many of us won’t bother to read the nutritional facts, calculate the price per ounce or otherwise spend all the time we need to choose the absolute right one. In some cases, we might pick the one closest to us, or the one that looks not too generic but not too expensive. Or maybe its the one with the most attractive label, or the fancy name that makes you think of something positive.We end up relying on our own intuition and feeling, influenced by how each of the products are positioned along the shelves or by which images and labels we feel most attracted to. This, my friends, is branding.

Branding for your organization should help audiences and consumers navigate the vast number of choices presented to them. Youll need to communicate what makes you unique, help them adopt the value you bring, and reassure them that they’ve made the right choice. To do so requires choosing the appropriate imagery, framing of assumptions, and overall language to keep them engaged. You want them to identify with you and ultimately build a lasting relationship with you and what you have to offer.

When you invest in your brand, you’re taking into consideration the impact branding has on your overall performance and influence. By guiding the public perception of your organization through your brand, you set up the opportunity to influence behavior; when this is done successfully, you can create (and better measure) change.

Some of you might not need to tackle these ideas, but for those of you who are rethinking your business strategy, experiencing a change in leadership, or perhaps feel a bit outdated, we’ve provided a few basic terms to help you and your team when considering brand at your organization.

What is..?

Brand Guide

A set of rules and guidelines established by an organization to create a perceived public identity. It may include intrinsic elements such as positioning, beliefs, values, tone of communication, brand personality, but also tangible elements that can be sensed through design such as direction on images, typography, colors, logos, etc.

Ask yourself:

How might we better guide our team to properly develop and communicate our story, values, beliefs and more?

Identity

A brand identity is how an organization would like to be perceived by the public.

Ask yourself:

How might we better communicate the story of our brand so we can attract new and targeted audiences?

Touchpoints

Channels in which audiences interface or can engage with your brand, such as a brochure, website, an email, and even how they are greeted over the phone.

Ask yourself:

How might we optimize our customers experiences with our brand across our channels?

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used by organizations or even individuals to aid and promote a public identity.

Ask yourself:

How might our logo better express the feeling and experience of our business and brand?
While this is a brief overview of what comprises the brand of an organization and how it can affect your success, there is much more depth to this story. If you have more questions of your own, why not reach out to us, so we can help