Craytoh - Brand Identity

Brand identity
First things first, before choosing a cool name, or rushing to design your own logo, or setting up
your own website (formal identity), as a brand you should be clear about who you are, what you
want to achieve, what you believe in, and what niche you want to fill both in the market and the
minds of your potential customers (brand identity). To successfully build your brand, this needs
to be reflected in the mission, vision and values of your company, and you should be aware of
how to position it intelligently vis-à-vis your competitors.
It is crucial to take sufficient time to develop these strategic principles in advance, as a large part
of your future success will depend on them. Don't make the mistake of leaving this stage until
later, choosing instead to focus on tasks that seem more agreeable.
Mission.
Whether you took Business Studies or not, I'm sure the term "mission" (in a business context)
sounds rather abstract, and you're probably not sure exactly what its connection to branding is,
or how it can be beneficial when it comes to building your brand.
There are many ways to define a company's mission. Here's one I really like:
The mission is your company's purpose beyond making money.
Your mission should allude to your company's raison d'être, its very essence, why it exists in the
first place.
A well-formulated and clearly communicated purpose is one of the most powerful tools to
convince customers to
choose your brand over others. In this section you will learn how to create an inspiring mission
statement that makes you stand out from the crowd. And best of all, you'll do it for completely
free.
2.1.2. Brainstorming.
A. Your reasons:
What inspired you to undertake this project?
Why do you do what you do?
How will this project help you to achieve your
dreams?
What pushed you to set up your own business?
B. Your clients' reasons:

What problems/needs do your clients have?
How can your company help them to solve these problems?
What emotional needs does it address for your clients?
Do you inspire them to achieve their dreams?
Do you help them overcome their fears?
How do your products/services help to improve your clients' lives?
C. The world's reasons:

How is your business going to improve the world?
How does your business help people's general well being?
How does your business look after the environ-ment?
Great, once you've answered these questions you can begin to compose your mission, the reason
why your clients should become your unconditional followers, the reason that drives you to jump
out of bed in the mornings, an inspiring mission that makes people choose your products instead
of your competitors.
Now it's time to gather these three perspectives together: look for the underlying theme in all of
your answers. In your mission, try to communicate the thing that connects your reasons with
those of your clients, and the world.
Note: Your company's mission should summarize what you do, who you do it for, and how you do
it.
2.2. Vision.
Now that you've worked out your purpose as a company it will prove much easier to define the
vision that will guide you and keep you on the right track towards the achievement of your aims
and objectives.
A vision defines and describes the future situation that the company wishes to be in.
Try to answer these questions:
What do you want your company to be like in the next few years?
Where is your company headed?
What do you wish to achieve as a business?
Where do you see the business five years from now?
Look at your vision as a route map which sets out your goals in both the medium and long term.
It will act as a compass and let you make the necessary changes of direction if you get lost on
route towards said goals.
Your vision should be motivating, and therefore realistic and achievable.
But how does all this add value for your clients? Do they really care where you're headed, or
where you want to get to?
2.2.1. Why will your vision make you stand out from the crowd?
The majority of businesses fail when it comes to creating their company vision because they
forget about their customers' interests and motivations. Your company's vision should serve you
as a strategic map in the long term, but if you want it to also work as a tool for the acquisition
and retention of customers, then don't forget about them when composing it.
As you saw in the previous point, it is critical to connect with your customers on an emotional
level. Only when your vision is able to inspire and motivate your clients, as well as you, will you
be able to differentiate yourself and stand out from 99% of the competition.
To create your company vision, let's do a little visualization exercise. I want you to close your eyes
and imagine yourself in 5 to 10 years time, having achieved the objectives that, right now, seem
so far away.
2.2.2. Brainstorming.
How do you feel?
Where are you?
What do you do all day?
What have you taught your clients?
How have you changed the lives of your clients?
What's it like working on your team?
What does the media say about your company?
How have you impacted the sector you work in?
How has your company contributed to creating a better world?
Once you've come up with a few ideas about how you envisage the future, you need to think
about how you will measure your progress and achievements until you realize it. It's important to
be as detailed as possible, ensuring that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have
achieved what you set out to do.
What brand values are and are NOT

Our values have been with us since childhood, they're not a trend.
The values represent our actions, NOT our desires or goals.
The values reveal who we are, NOT who we want to be.
Our values are present when people are watching and when they're NOT.
2.4. Positioning.
A brand's position is the niche it fills, or aspires to fill, in the consumer's mind.
This should not be confused with "web positioning" or "SEO positioning", which is the ranking of
a website on internet search engines (e.g. Google).
Why is positioning the most important decision that you'll have to make?
Brand positioning is the most important decision, aswell as the most complicated one, that the
entrepreneur
has to make. How bold you are when it comes to position-
ing your brand on the market will determine in large part
the future success of your business.
Positioning defines why customers should choose you
and not your rivals.

Craytoh - Brand Identity

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Craytoh - Brand Identity

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Craytoh - Brand Identity

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Brand identity

The mission is your company's purpose beyond making money.

B. Your clients' reasons:

C. The world's reasons:

Try to answer these questions:

Your vision should be motivating, and therefore realistic and achievable.

What brand values are and are NOT

You might also like