In this series, the label printing experts at United Label are taking an in-depth look at corporate branding, which is a crucial part of one’s business, from the ads to the website to the packaging to the label itself. A brand is how your business presents itself, and its products, to the world. This means that your brand has to show itself not only to its loyal customers, but to the general public, which will be full of new potential customers who’ve never heard of you before. If your corporate brand’s influence is impressive instead of confusing, it will work for you and ensure your sales continually increase organically. In the best case scenario, your brand can gather a loyal following that drive new folks to continually start interacting it with as well. However, if your brand is confusing, the opposite will happen, and you will start to lose customers.
Creating good branding guidelines is not an easy task because the nature and structure of branding depends from industry to industry and sector to sector. Hence, when you hire someone in marketing, sales or management, you must make sure that everyone is on the same page regarding your short-term and long-term visions. Here are some of the Do’s and Don’ts for corporate branding and why you should follow them.
Do’s and Don’ts for corporate branding
Do: Be specific with the design of the brand
You have to focus on the themes that you are trying to put across and then be specific with your brand. For example, if an ad for Netflix came with a pastel green and neon pink version instead of the usual black, red and white, it would seem absurd to the audience or anyone who engages with the ad. This is because the design and the colour scheme refuse to agree with the underlying tones the ad is trying to convey. Hence, you have to make sure that you do not make this mistake.
Be proactive with the kind of fonts you use, the typeface, the colour, symbols, imagery styles, the position and the size of the logo. You must choose the fonts that highlight your brand’s image and its aura. For instance, if you are trying to become the expert in your field, you must steer away from colourful and fun fonts like Jokerman and opt for something classy like Monotype Corsiva instead.
Don’t: Make universal rules
Every brand is unique in its own way. You have to approach the branding and the corporate design for each brand in a different manner to make the ad effective. For instance, the platforms Instagram and Twitter are two very different spaces that use different kinds of media for the propagation of ideas. Hence, a marketing campaign designed for Twitter will most likely not work for Instagram.
Hence, you need to make sure that you are clear with the strategy of your brand and the message you are trying to portray. If you think that the logo, for instance, is the most important part of your branding, you need to focus more on the logo that other brands do. If your brand is text based, you need to be better with your content marketing and content ads like email marketing and bulk SMS marketing.
Do: Be open to making your logo a little smaller
Your logo needs to be impactful, memorable, and aesthetically pleasing. It needs to stand out on its own. But it does not need to be so big that it covers the content on your website, or takes up a large amount of real estate on your print ad. In fact, you will be able to see how effective your logo is as it gets smaller, because the best, most memorable logos stand out even when small compared to the rest of the context. The bright green of Starbucks, the Target “target,” the Golden Arches, or the Nike “swoosh” are all recognizable even as tiny icons on a page.
Complicated logos, on the other hand, can easily be misinterpreted or become confusing for a potential consumer. So keep it simple. If you find that you can’t tell what your logo is as it gets smaller on the page, then you might need to simplify it. Also, feel free to check out a few tips for designing a logo here for more help.
Don’t: Ignore your brand’s story
Even highly specific guidelines can become very difficult to follow if there is a lack of a clear purpose and narrative behind the application of the brand in the corporate sector. You have to make sure that the brand’s history values and purposes are apparent through the brand that you are trying to promote. You should make sure that the general population gets the values and the visions of the brand once they interact and engage with it.
The brand story section does not have to be complicated or unnecessarily complex. However, it should serve as the core of the brand’s vision for the employees and the target customers. For example, if your business is to make sure your customers have the best windows they ever owned, you need to construct a story on how you plan to do that and why you’re doing what you’re doing. How can you incorporate windows to fit in with the brand message?
Branding Do’s & Don’ts: Taking it With You
In conclusion, you must make sure your brand is a reflection of your company’s vision and values. As the one responsible for your marketing, you must keep the image of your brand consistent and simple throughout the corporate design of your brand, including the color scheme, the tone, and the overall story.
Lastly, here are a couple of bonus tips:
- Do include communication and writing rules in your corporate branding to make it easier when working with new partners–this includes brand guidelines, color schemes, etc.
- Don’t ignore the core of your brand’s past, as it will be important to your new consumers, even if it seems like ancient history to you.
When you’re branding is ready to go, it’ll be time to get your product out to market — and that’s where we can help. Call the printing experts at United Label today at (973) 589-6500 for all your label printing needs.