All the best story tellers captivate their audience’s attention from the off, and keep the pages turning with cliff hangers and twists and turns. But when it comes to tell your brand’s story, a novel just isn’t going to cut it. All our lives we’ve been told to never judge a book by its cover. But it’s time we threw the rule book out the window.
They say you never get a second chance to make a great first impression, and this is certainly true in the fast-paced world of business. Factor in the Internet savvy web users, and you’ve got one impatient audience. Simply TELLING your audience something is no longer enough. You have to SHOW them.
The story behind your business is one worth telling. But you need to encourage people to read it. No matter how captivating the copy, you need to lure your audience in. The most effective way to do this is through your brand identity:
What’s a Brand?
Branding is more than just an eye catching logo design, it is the basis of a solid marketing strategy. Your company’s corporate identity, or branding, is what sets you apart from competitors. The combination of a winning website, logo, and printed business literature help form a strong brand.
Think of companies such as McDonalds, and Apple. Their brands are so strong and so recognisable; the company name is barely needed.The Golden Arches, colour scheme, and mascot all make McDonalds one of the most memorable brands on the planet.
While your company might not have the budget of McDonalds, you can still utilise the most powerful weapon in their arsenal. Graphic design is the key to selling your brands story in the best possible way. After all, a picture tells 1,000 words.
How To Tell a Story
Without words, you may think it impossible to tell your brand’s story. But you can showcase exactly what you’re about, how professional you are, and much more with killer graphics. Bird and Co have helped numerous start up businesses with the creation of their brand. It can be the difference between make or break. In an instant, your logo can reveal exactly what your business is about.
You can use you logo to tell your brand’s story in a flash. If your strap line and company ethos is ‘focusing on the finer details’, your logo could be a magnifying glass; highlighting the first letter of your name.
Likewise you could use arrows, circles, and a whole host of symbolic images to really depict your bands story. Similarly different colours evoke different means and feelings in your audience. If you’re particularly eco friendly, a lush green tree is an obvious logo choice.
These simple but effective graphic design choices can really help tell your brands story. While these obvious – and some may say cheesy – choices aren’t for everyone; you don’t want to be too abstract. Consider logos such as FedEx for inspiration. The use of white space to create a hidden arrow is simple, subtle, and hugely effective.
Vital Visual Aspects of Corporate Branding
Before you can implement a winning corporate branding strategy, you first need to determine the particular visual aspects. Going through a company rebranding can be a fruitful or frightful experience. So before taking the plunge you need to make sure you’re doing it right.
The key visual aspects to consider include:
- Logo
- Website
- Colour Scheme
- Typography
By combining these key features, you can create a striking and individual brand. Not only that, but you can use these aspects to tell your brands story. Audiences will respond well to an eye-catching logo, unique colour scheme, and interesting typography. Combine these methods to tell your story in the best possible way.
Integrate with Social Media
As well as using creativity to tell your brands story, it’s important you remember the importance of social media. Not only can you use a consistent profile image to keep the brand recognisable; you can use a Facebook cover photo and custom Twitter background to support your stories.
Facebook’s Timeline lets you tell your brand’s story in an even more in depth way than just your graphics. Milestones, pictures, and apps are all features you should explore to tell your story.
Graphic design and branding go hand-in-hand, and can prove to be rewarding. Before undertaking a complete brand overhaul though, you should consider a number of things:
- What do you want to say about your business? Why doesn’t your current branding do this?
- What do you like/dislike about your current branding?
- What do you want to achieve by rebranding?
No-one knows your business better than you. You’re the best person to decide on what changes need to be made. So make sure you always have a great deal of input in any redesign. Your brand needs to be honest, and true to the ethics of your company. Make sure that it showcases everything that is great – and more importantly human – about your business.