Your brand is your company’s personality. Without a unique brand, consumers aren’t likely to notice you and are unlikely to get what your company stands for. A lot of mistakes can be made when building a brand, which can affect your ability to attract consumers. Here are some of the biggest branding blunders to avoid.
Copying the competition
If your branding is too similar to that of your competitors, you’re unlikely to stand out from the crowd. You could also risk getting sued – particularly if they’ve trademarked certain elements of their brand.
While it’s acceptable to let other brands influence you, you don’t want to completely imitate them. Do some competitor research to see what other companies are doing – feel free to borrow some ideas, but also try to work out what you can do differently. Finding a USP (unique selling proposition) is essential. There are companies that specialise in idea generation that can help you identify your USP. By understanding what makes your company unique, you can build a more unique brand that turns heads.
Focusing solely on the logo
While it’s definitely worth designing a logo, this isn’t the only component that makes up a brand.
Company colour schemes, fonts, slogans and an identifiable tone of voice are all other elements to consider. These can all be used to build a picture of the type of company you are. For instance, when forming a brand for a upmarket restaurant you may want to consider serif fonts, deep colours and a sophisticated tone of voice, while a fast food restaurant may benefit more from sans-serif fonts, bright colours and a more playful tone of voice.
Not being consistent
Your branding needs to be consistent across all marketing channels. If your website uses a completely different logo and tone of voice to your social media, it could confuse consumers into thinking that they belong to two different companies.
Make sure that everything matches up by introducing a style guide across all marketing mediums. You may even be able to use template software to help introduce brand consistency to all documents and newsletters. If you do make any changes to your branding, make sure that these changes are made across the board.
Not knowing when to rebrand
A brand can become outdated. Certain colour schemes and fonts may fall out of flavour. Alternatively, you may feel that your brand no longer reflects the type of consumers you cater to or the type of product/service that you offer. In these cases, it could be important to consider a rebrand.
When rebranding your business, make sure that everything is updated to match your new brand. Get rid of old stacks of flyers and business cards that contain old logos or colour schemes and make sure that your website and all social media pages are updated. There are companies that can help you to successfully rebrand.
