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Give your brand a little personality— |
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Thursday, 16 October 2008 |
No question about it, advertising is one of the best ways to increase business. However, the look and feel of your advertising—its brand personality—can either help or hurt the image of your brand in the eyes of the customers you are targeting. Imaginative and creative conceptual graphic design solutions for your advertising plays a pivotal role in the ability to further the personality of your brand.
Maybe your doubting the importance of giving your brand more personality. If so, stop and think about some legendary brands like Levi's, Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike, and Starbucks. Why do people pay five times as much for a cup of coffee? Brand Personality. Companies like these spark fervent loyalty in their customers. These companies have crafted a compelling story—or brand personality—to win the hearts of their customers.
Imaginative graphic design can help your company create its own distinct brand personality with which your customers will strongly identify. With the right brand personality your customers will move from simply being consumers of your product or service to brand loyalists. Brand loyalists are those consumers that spend money year after year on your products, proving their loyalty.
These companies have long known the value of brand personality and as a result spend millions of dollars each year to maintain that personality. What can small businesses that don't have millions of dollars to spend do to build their brand personality?
Here are some basic concepts to help you create brand personality in your advertising:
Concept
This is the underling idea behind your advertising. What single main benefit do you want your potential clients to grasp? Your concept should envelope that singular benefit.
Tone
Does your advertising need to be comfortable, elegant, serious or humorous? The tone of your advertising should relect who your company is and what you want it to be.
Tagline and Main Visual Element
These two elements should work together cohesively, conveying the concept of the advertisement.
Graphic Design
The overall graphic design of your advertising communicates your company's personality. Ask yourself, is my company's personality friendly, inviting, polished, clean or cluttered? Is it elegant and modern or earthy and homegrown. What impression do your want your potential customers to walk away with?
Copy
The copy in your advertising should read like a conversation. We don't speak perfectly from a gramatical standpoint when we are trying to be genuine and friendly. What do we mean by this? It means it's okay to have paragraphs with just one word.
Really?
Yes, really. It's okay not to follow all the rules of language. We don't when we converse and that is what you are trying to do with your potential customers. Omit punctuation, begin a sentence with words like and, or, but. So go ahead and ask your reader a question.
Get the idea?
Now we are not saying to destroy the written word, but don't be afraid to experiment and find a style that reflects your company's personality.
Now what?
Step back and take a look at your current brand. Does it have personality? It so, is it one that you intentionally created, or is it one that just developed with time? Does it reflect who you want to be and who you target customers want you to be?
Finding the answers to these questions and in turn applying them to your advertising will help you define your brand personality and turn it boost your sales.
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