5 Ways to Shape Up Your Brand Identity

A company’s brand identity is made up of a lot of elements that create a brand personality and a brand reputation. When people get to know a brand that delivers on its promises, people trust it. That’s the power of brand identity.

Brand identities consist of many pieces that are visual, verbal and experiential. While it’s up to the company to create a great experience with its products or services, ClearWing and our design partners help with the visuals and verbals, like: 

• Verbal: The company name, tagline, mission statement, key messaging, tone of voice

• Visual: Logo, graphic elements, color selection, style guide

Brand ID for the win

While names and logos are incredibly important, brand identities are so much more.

My friend’s child once noticed a half-installed sign on a building. A purple and white swoosh background contained a shooting star. But no name. Yet the elementary-schooler guessed it was a new office for Wellstar, a health system in Atlanta. Next time he and his mom drove by, his suspicion was confirmed. The name “Wellstar” was in place on the sign.

It was such an amazing testimony to the strength of a good brand identity and all of its working parts, my friend shared it on social media. 

Key messaging – can you guess all 7?

The same goes for things like taglines. You can typically fill in the blank with a company’s name when you hear a slogan. Let’s see how many you can guess:

• “Dress for Less”

• “The Happiest Place on Earth”

• “Taste the Feeling”

• “Where Shopping is a Pleasure”

• “Eat More Chicken”

• “Do the Kind Thing”

You probably didn’t think twice. But just in case, here are the answers:

Ross, Disney, Coca-Cola, Publix, Chik-fil-A and KIND.

So how do you build and strengthen a brand identity?

1. Start with your why

Companies that share their purpose - their why - for doing business (other than turning a profit) have a better chance of attracting their ideal customers.

Take KIND Snacks for example. This company taps into the meaning of its own name to promote a message of kindness to our bodies and others. It ties its marketing in with promotions where people can nominate someone for doing something #kindaawesome and send them a KIND card and a KIND bar. This is brand identity genius.

2. Who do you serve?

A strong brand identity helps define your business so clearly that it’s easier to attract your dream customers. When businesses serve their ideal customers, the service can be more on point. People talk. And that attracts more ideal customers, which leads to growth.

But attracting a specific group of people can be a hard concept to buy into. Some companies push back – they want to be everything to everyone so they don’t miss out on any business.

We encourage you to think about it like this: if you keep your brand as generic as possible so you can serve everybody, your company will not stand out from your competitors. If you define your dream customer and deliver on your brand promise, you will stand out from the crowd to the people who really matter – and win more of those types of customers.

It’s important to get very specific with who your customer is and what they care about. It’s also okay to have more than one, so get to know the different types of people your business serves best. Doing this helps you make sales and marketing decisions in the future so you’re targeting your dollars efficiently.  

3. Watch your tone and humanize your brand

Intentional choices about a brand voice help shape a brand’s personality. Using a specific tone – whether energetic or relaxed and relatable – is another way to help the right people connect.

What personality words describe your brand? Tough, friendly, witty or funny? For every personality trait, there’s a voice to match. Words can be gruff, humorous, peppy or clever.

A great example of a Georgia-based company that created a unique brand voice is SPANX. Atlantan Sara Blakely, a.k.a. the “pantyhose mogul,” invented her body-shaping product to help women feel sexy in white jeans.

The billionaire shared in an interview with Georgia Trend magazine that her brand never takes itself too seriously. That’s a direct reflection of its founder who isn’t afraid to say she was the company’s original “butt model.” The name in itself – SPANX – was risky, but funny, and its first slogan was, “Don’t worry, we’ve got your butt covered.” Product names have included “Her Thighness” and “Undi-tectable.” Her brand voice made it acceptable, even cool, for younger women to use shapewear. SPANX not only filled an unmet need, but did it with a funny brand personality that helped the company stand out.

4. Say “I do” to your brand

In today’s digital landscape, media is fragmented. People get information from different service providers and devices. Audiences are more fragmented than ever. Because of this, companies must commit to repetition.

Branding elements such as very specific color palettes and key messages must be used again and again, repeated over and over. A brand identity should stand the test of time, year after year. (Think of the Chik-fil-A’s cows. They’ve been around the block.)

Another example is Coca-Cola – it repeats its slogan countless times. Even when it gets old. That’s why we recognize slogans like “Taste the feeling.” Coca-Cola launched a new slogan in 2021 – “Real magic.” Do you recognize it yet?

While not every company is purchasing billions of dollars in ad space like Coke, we can all repeat key messaging on channels we own such as our websites and social media channels. Key messaging and the same brand identity elements should be repeated in all of your printed collateral, ads, speeches, videos, and more.

5. Be consistent

There’s a good chance your company has gone through a process to create your brand identity with color, font and design choices. Combine that with brand messaging and voice and you’ll have everything you need to create a style guide. Moving forward, share your guidelines with every marketing and communications professional you work with. That’s the people on your team involved with marketing as well as the vendors you partner with.

For example, benefits of sponsoring a gala or a 5k may include remarks, a company description in the program and a logo for a shirt or presentation. A quick consult with your brand identity document can guide your speaking points, program write-up, and ensure the partner organization keeps the integrity of your logo intact.

ClearWing partners with boutique design shops in the Atlanta metro to create brand identities for new companies or product lines. We also help existing brands get their identities into better shape with style guides, key messaging and tone of voice development. For help with your brand identity, let’s talk.