The importance of branding through the lens of data:
- 88% of customers confirm authenticity as an essential factor in deciding which brands they love and support.
- Customers form an opinion about your website in 0.05 seconds.
- A signature color increases brand recognition by 80%.
You reading this article proves you know the power of branding. However, you’re unsure how to go about it. What are the factors you need to consider? Which agency should you hire for branding services?
This article will offer the answers. In the next five minutes, learn the 5 steps of the branding process SeekThem uses that build successful brands.
5 steps of the branding process
1. Discovery call to kick off the project
We conduct up to 3 discovery calls or meetings (both in person and over calls) that last for one hour each to build the foundation of the brand strategy framework. We ask the key stakeholders to answer our branding questionnaire during these sessions.
The goals behind a discovery call or meeting are:
- Find out how the stakeholders want their brand to be positioned.
- Get a clear understanding of the business, its USP, and the target audience.
- What the marketing landscape is.
We conduct the discovery sessions in two phases — the preliminary discovery phase and the advanced discovery phase.
Preliminary discovery phase
We want to know about the:
- Business operations
- Existing customers (if any)
- Target audience
- Competitors
- Business strengths and weaknesses
Some of the questions we ask in this phase include:
- What problem does your business solve?
- How is your offer going to make your target audience’s life easy?
- What is your USP?
- What industry changes have you witnessed in recent years?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of your business?
Advanced discovery phase
We want to know about the:
- Industry trends
- Market conditions
- Detailed customer persona
- Accuracy of the information collected in the previous phase
Some of the questions we ask in this phase include:
- What do you know about your target audience as a group?
- How would you describe the day-to-day lives of your target audience?
- Where do you think you have an advantage over your competitors?
- What are your yearly revenue goals?
- What are your long-term goals for the brand?
Afterward, we take up to two weeks to analyze the data and move on to the next phase in our 5 step brand building process.
Read More: The impact of New technologies (such as AI) on Logo design
2. Develop brand proposition
Brand proposition — which is an essential step in the process of branding — is a foundational concept showcasing the unique identifying features of your brand. The brand proposition allows you to convince the target audience that your offer will solve their problems and you’re credible enough.
We make sure your brand proposition:
- Identify the target customer. Furthermore, the brand proposition shows why the customer should choose you over your competitors.
- How does your brand solve the problems you claim to solve? How is the process different from other existing players?
- Shows the specific benefits you offer. The benefits can include a unique product or service, enhanced customer experience, and extended customer support.
Here’s how we achieve the same:
- We figure out what your brand stands for. We build the mission and vision statement and share it with the stakeholders for review and discussion to figure the same out.
- We figure out what existing problem your offer solves and how. Who is going to need this offer? What steps do you take to build the offer? What would make the customer choose you over your competitors?
- We narrow down the unique identifying factors so we can explain them within two to three sentences. We figure the tone of voice best suited to your customers and use the tone at every touchpoint.
Read More: The difference between Amateur Vs Professional branding
3. Create brand visuals
Here’s how we go about the next step in the branding process timeline:
- We create up to 5 mood boards analyzing the information we found in the previous steps.
- We share the mood boards with the key stakeholders to decide on the desired route. Once that is finalized, we move on to the next step.
- We decide on the emotions we want to evoke in the customer’s minds when they see the visuals.
- We decide on the color palette to reflect the brand identity.
- We decide on the on-brand images and design elements.
4. Finalize typography and brand system
We choose two fonts for the brand typography — a header font and a body copy font. We make sure both the fonts highlight the brand attributes and complement each other.
Here’s how we achieve the same:
- We define the brand personality by identifying the emotions you want to evoke in the customer whenever they see the brand.
- We demonstrate the personality of each typeface to the stakeholders for choosing one.
- We make sure the fonts are legible, contrasting, and flexible.
We offer additional graphic systems or elements to support the branding. If asked, we can offer an evolved or new color palette and textures to support the brand identity.
We add all the new information to the brand guideline.
Read More: Branding is an Investment, not an Expense, here is why
5. Develop brand guidelines
We add all the above-mentioned information in the brand guidelines for you.
We explain every branding aspect including:
- Brand proposition
- Tone of voice
- How to use logos, fonts, colors, textures, and systems
- Advise on brand touchpoints
- A digital asset management system
Going forward, the brand guideline will be your bible on how to apply and use the new identity and keep the branding consistent. Here’s an example:
Steps of the branding process — stay persistent and increase the revenue
Revenues increase by up to 33% when users consistently see a brand presentation. That’s why setting up a branding process is a must.
We hope the 5 steps of the branding process discussed in the article will offer you a roadmap to make the most out of the branding process to build a successful brand.
