5 Steps To Creating An Intentional Brand Presence
This blog post was co-written by Erin Chmelik of Tribe Creative Co. and Michaela Galvin of JoieWorks Creative Cartel.
If you think of your business as a home, then you can think of your brand as the foundation of that home. Your brand sets the stage for everything -- how your business is visually portrayed, who your messaging speaks to and, most importantly, how your business will grow and evolve.
Creating an intentional brand doesn’t happen overnight; it is something that evolves over time. When we think of branding, we naturally think of elements such as logo, colors and typography. But how do you create this visual representation of your business in an intentional way? If you want to create a brand that is an authentic extension of your business, it starts with intention and purpose. Branding begins well before pen meets paper to create a logo design or color palette. It starts by taking a step backward and defining things such as your who, your why and your brand’s values.
We understand that this process can seem daunting and overwhelming, especially if it something that you may not have considered before. Thus, we have created five easy steps to creating an intentional brand.
Step 1: Brand Discovery
There is a reason we stress the importance of starting every project with brand discovery. It truly sets the foundation for everything that comes afterwards, such as creation of brand elements, website design and content creation.
If you’ve started a business or you’re looking to start one, you probably have many thoughts and ideas floating around in your head. Brand discovery brings these thoughts and ideas from your head and into the world in a thoughtful and organized way, which will set the stage for your brand development.
So what exactly is brand discovery?
Brand Discovery is the process of discovering and defining who your brand/business is, what it does, who it services, and where it is positioned in the market. We conduct this process in the form of an in-person session or sessions. In these sessions, we discuss at length all the different facets of your business and give you a deeper and comprehensive understanding of the context and definition of your brand from many different angles.
Once the sessions are completed, we then compile this information into a Brand Style Guide outlining all the data from the discovery sessions and defining in detail guidelines for use of each element of your brand. You will then be able to use this Style Guide as your ‘brand toolbox’ moving forward. This guide will inform the design and style of all branded elements (i.e. website, logo, business cards, etc.) and will enable you to create consistent and professional messaging and brand elements across all touchpoints as your business continues to grow and evolve over time.
Step 2: Know Your WHO
Understanding your target audience is one of the most important elements of branding and of doing business. After all, how can you create relevant products, services, branding and messaging if you don’t know who you’re talking to? Skipping this step will only serve as a major setback to your business.
Think of your ideal client as your dream client. Considering this goes well beyond just considering the basics like age, gender, and preferences. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience and consider some of the following:
Can you visualize the challenges your ideal clients faces on an ordinary day? How are these challenges affecting them? And how can you solve them?
Have they tried to overcome these challenges and, if so, how?
What could they be achieving without these challenges in their way? How would their lives be different?
What is holding them back from making this a reality?
Where does your ideal client hangout? Where do they spend their time?
What drives your ideal client to make a decision?
Step 3: Naming Your Business
Let’s face it - naming things is hard! We see a lot of our clients get stuck when it comes to naming their business. Your business name is certainly an important piece of the puzzle, but we also don’t want you to become discouraged by this step. This is a process that should be fun and creative!
Here are some tips to naming your business:
Brand Discovery. We told you - it all starts with knowing your business first! How can you name something that you haven’t defined? Ideally, you’ve done some of the leg work and undergone a brand discovery by this point. Use the information and ideas that came out of the brand discovery to consider some relevant and appropriate name ideas for your business.
Make a word bank. Write down some words that align with your business and start putting them together in different ways to see what you come up with.
Ask yourself (or others) the important questions. Once you’ve come up with some ideas, ask yourself or a friend some of these important questions. What is your first impression? Does it sound good? Is it relevant to my product/service offerings and industry? Is it memorable? Does it sound credible?
Step 4: Brand Bio, Brand Mission & Brand Values
In order to create an intentional brand presence, you will need a strong brand biography (otherwise known as an ‘about statement’), a thoughtful brand mission statement and clearly defined brand values.
Brand Bio
Your brand bio is a short statement of one to two sentences that defines exactly who you are and what you do. Your brand bio can be used as your elevator pitch, your social media bio and as a key piece of content for your website.
Use this formula to uncover your business’ About Statement:
Brand Mission
Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk called “Start With Why” explains it best. Sinek discusses the idea that “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
Your ‘why’ is your purpose. Why did you start your business? What fuels you everyday to continue hustling? Why are you doing what you are doing? In this day and age, people respond to authenticity. If you are clear and transparent about your mission and your purpose as a business, your audience will be more likely to connect with you.
Brand Values
Brand values are your business’ guiding principles. They determine how your brand and your business will grow and evolve, and are certainly not something that you should overlook. Just because these values may not appear written on the front page of your website doesn’t mean it’s not important to define them.
For example, we all know Apple and are aware of how its brand presence has permeated our everyday lives. One of Apple’s core values (pun not intended) is ‘think different’. Steve Jobs communicated this early on, and with this idea, paved the way for Apple to become of one of the most innovative companies of our time.
Step 5: Quality Brand Assets
Now that you’ve done a lot of the hard thinking, it’s time to put those ideas and information to use. It’s time to create a strong brand presence that reflects your business’ offerings, personality, values and audience.
When you’re just starting out as a business owner, it can be difficult to prioritize what areas to spend your money on. As stated above, we just can’t stress enough the importance of brand discovery and the power it has to inform a strong brand identity. Creating a strong and consistent brand identity through the use of various brand elements such as logo, colors, and typography will pave the way for your business to thrive. Defining these elements early on with Brand Discovery and a Brand Style Guide will inform the design for other important steps that may come after, such as creating a website and developing a marketing strategy.
Creating an intentional brand presence is much more than making some pretty graphics or putting your business name into your email signature. Your brand is an extension of your business’ offerings, personality, mission and values. It tells the story of who you are as a business, what you do and why you do it. There is value in taking the time and effort to define these different areas of your business so you can use that information to inform all your decisions as you continue to grow and evolve.