What is Branding?

Branding refers to the creative development of a company’s brand, or their overall image and story. The brand of a company holds a direct relation to the branding practices carried out by the creative, marketing, and advertising teams. Essentially, your brand portrays your company in four ways: 1) who you are, 2) what you do, 3) how you do it, and 4) why you do it. This is how the public and consumers recognize you.

Establishing Your Brand

First, a company needs to establish their target audience and goals they want to attain. This can be determined through the company’s mission, their advantages over competitors, and the qualities that the company wants to obtain. Many businesses then want to get their name out to their audience. Companies can advance past their competitors through the creation of a compelling and practical logo. By incorporating your logo and brand into your everyday business practices, positive results will be shown. Taglines that reflect the mission and goals of your company are a great way to draw in consumers. Marketing and advertising campaigns that relate to your audience and the public will also have considerable results. If you are truthful to the message of your brand, consumers will gain a sense of trust and respect. As a result, they will continue their relationship with you and promote your business or brand to others. The most effective way of establishing your brand is by being legitimate and consistent.

Ineffective Branding

On the other hand, there are unfortunate events when companies lose money because of unsuccessful branding strategies and practices. Pepsi’s logo redesign of 2008 is publicized and known as one of the worst rebrands that many design professionals have seen. While their new logo attempted to identify with Hindu traditions and ancient Chinese art, the design agency was ineffective in doing so. As a result of failed designs, the company loses money and consumers are less likely to invest in or purchase your product.

Effective Branding

A large aspect of branding is based on the company’s logo and its ability to make consumers act a certain way, ranging from visiting a company’s website to buying a product. An example of a great brand identity is when Citicorp and Travelers Group merged to form Citibank. Paula Scher, a famous graphic designer, is responsible for the design of the logo which encompassed facets of both Citicorp and Travelers Group. For example, Scher chose to include the previous blue colors of Citicorp while incorporating the red umbrella from Travelers Group’s former logo. The outcome of good design and branding benefit both the agency and client.

With offices in Greenville and Raleigh, NC, Red Shark Digital offers effective branding solutions from Go-To-Market Strategies, as well as Logo and Creative Designs. Visit our case studies to see our recent work.

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Aesthetics in Web Design

Does Your Logo Need a Facelift

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