In the old days, the term “brand” was used in reference to when ranchers marked their cattle with a blazing hot iron. Over time a brand has become so much more than a symbol or an icon. A brand is an idea, energy, a vibe that people feel when they interact with your business.

Brand marketing is more than sleek logo design or cool colors. Your brand has to make sense & connect who you are with the product or service you offer.

Will your target market understand your brand and how it relates to them? These are things you need to consider when establishing a brand identity.

How can you get started on transforming your own brand identity? Performing a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) of your market is an excellent place to start. You’ll be able to see gaps that you can fill with your brand, whether that’s the high-end of the market or positioning yourself somewhere in the middle.

As part of the squad at Gravity Junction, the top brand marketing agency, I’ve got news for you! My incredible team has been focused on branding in Atlanta for over 10 years.

We’re all about taking brands from being one dimensional, black and white concepts to becoming deep brands bursting with multi-dimensional values, stories and purpose that make up their brand identities!

What Is Brand Identity?

Brand identity is made up of what your brand says, how you promote your product, what you want people to feel when they interact with your product, and what your values & ideas are. Your brand identity basically = the promises you make to your customers & the personality of your business!

What Makes A Good Brand Identity?

Brand identity includes typography, logos, colors, messaging, packaging, and it reinforces the reputation of a brand. Brand identity attracts new consumers to a brand while ALSO making existing customers feel at home. They know what they’re gonna get from you, everytime.

A brand’s identity is similar to a first impression or what people say about you when you’re not in the room. This impression is made on customers long after you’ve made the sale. Brand idea focuses on shaping that impression.

I mean what’s more important than a first impression, right?

What Is An Example Of A Great Brand Identity?

When you hear “Coca-Cola”, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Is it their classic red and white cursive logo, or the polar bear? Or, maybe it’s their “Share a Coke” campaign.

Regardless of which brand characteristic that sticks out to you the most, the entire world can appreciate that Coca Cola has a damn good brand identity. Here are the two things that stick out to us the most:

• Coca-Cola prints its logo on a very uniquely shaped bottle. What message does this send to customers? It’s that they’re not getting anyone else’s version of it but the real thing. This builds trust and credibility in an endless cycle.
• Coca-Cola’s brand identity starts with a red logo in script text. The red color gives off confidence in the person who drinks the Coke, and the script is about having a pleasurable experience. Coffee may be the drink you have in the morning, but Coca-Cola is what you enjoy when you’re done with all the hard stuff. This is the brand’s “face.”

As you can see, these are major distinctions from just the logo of a business.

How Can I Create A Unique And Memorable Brand Identity?

There is far more intention and psychology that goes into a brand than meets the eye. We want to help you get into that strategic way of thinking about brand identity instead of just a cool logo.

Answering these questions will help you establish a deeper idea of who you are as a brand:

Define Core Identity

• Vision – Why does your company exist?
• Mission – What does your company do?
• Values – What beliefs guide your company’s actions?

You more than likely know the questions to these answers, but this is an important step in re-evaluating your existing core identity.

Questions to ask:

• Does your existing brand marketing and brand identity properly communicate your core identity?
• Are some of the existing elements no longer valid or poorly defined?
• What’s most important to your company?
• Are there company culture elements that have emerged that aren’t reflected in your vision, mission, or values

Brand Identity Research

Let’s talk about developing a higher-level understanding of your business.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT Analysis is a strategic framework for taking a big picture look at the internal and external factors of your business and brand.

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

The first two address the internal factors that are working for and against you.

The second half focuses on the positive and negative external factors and hurdles.

This is a holistic, high-level approach so that you and your team don’t have to go chasing after details that don’t crank up your ROI to ceiling-breaking levels. A SWOT Analysis will empower your business to have a tangible assessment to go off of and grow from.

Brand Identity Design

It’s time to hire a graphic design professional to develop elements that bring your brand to life.

Key Creative Graphic Design Elements:

Business Name

The first impression for your consumers and prospects!

What to ask yourself:

• Does it convey what’s meaningful for your brand?
• Does it make you stand apart from your competition?
• Does it CLEARLY showcase the public brand identity you want your business to present?

Logo

A logo, the small piece of artwork that represents a business, is one of the most important elements of brand identity!

It’s time to think about simplicity and memorability when it comes to the graphic design behind your logo. Aside from any fanciness or fluff, here’s what is the most important when it comes to your logo design:

• Reflect your brand
• Be easily recognizable
• Cater to a diverse crowd
• Be timeless

Our artful graphic design experts here at Gravity Junction approach logo design with a synthetic blend of technical creativity and art. We believe having a great logo design is like having a bone in your hand at a dog park; your customers will come running.

Website

Your website is the equivalent of being the physical store your consumers walk into. It’s the digital playground for all of your users and prospects.

Is there proper branding that would make them even want to step into the store in the first place? Is there good visibility? Can your consumers get to all of the products easily?

Just like you get an impression of a company by its office building, or a retail store by its shop, consumers get an impression of you from your website.

Can the customer trust your business? 75% of consumers judge the credibility and trustworthiness of a business solely from its website design.

Strong, modern web design is the LIFE of your brand’s reputation and VITAL to your bottom line and future.

Final Thoughts

Branding in Atlanta can feel like being a fish in the ocean, right? That’s why a ridiculously unique brand identity is so vital; it breathes life into your business and brand & allows you to stand out. It gives your brand movement, personality, and personalization. That’s how you can stand out in the crowd like a red umbrella on a gloomy day.

Creating a strong brand identity will attract your consumers to you over and over again. Just like Coca-Cola intentionally chose its color and font to make its customers feel a certain way when they grab a Coke, you want to put care into the details that build a rabid customer base.

My fellow super crew at Gravity Junction and I are super passionate about all things related to branding in Atlanta and brand identity. Let’s chat about how we can get you connected with Atlanta’s top digital marketing agency to make your brand’s story larger than life!

Power on, gang.

Contact us today for a complimentary brand strategy session or ask us about graphic design!