How to build a brand identity: Part 1

I’ve yet to meet a business without a brand identity.

It is what they use to show up.

When you’re going for an interview, you have to look sharp before you show up in front of the employer; this is part of your brand identity.

I often say it’s an emotional connection that a brand builds with its audience, and where most people get it wrong is, a brand identity deals only with the visuals.

Brand identities have been the starting point for many businesses’ success. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter if the brand’s logo is not that good. What matters is can they do what they say they do, and can they do it well?

A brand identity helps to clarify the essence of who you are, what you stand for and how you want to be perceived.

It’s a tool for impression management.

Creating a brand identity is not a one-day job, unless you‘re a magician, as it requires careful consideration and strategic execution.

In this story, I’ll walk you through some essential steps involved in creating a powerful and lasting brand identity, and also some insightful tips and practical examples.

Understanding Your Brand Foundation (Brand DNA)

As I said, a brand identity isn’t only about the visuals. Here’s an analogy I found to resonate with a lot of people for the understanding of what a brand identity is:

Just as a person has a unique personality, appearance, and set of values, a brand identity includes the unique characteristics, visual elements, and values that distinguish a brand in the marketplace.

The brand’s personality is like the persona of a person, and it displayed through the brand’s voice, tone and communication style.

The visual elements like the logo, color palette and typography, are like the physical appearance of a person, creating a distinct and recognizable visual identity for the brand.

The values and beliefs of the brand are akin to the principles and ethics that guides a person’s actions and decisions. Together, these elements from the brand’s identity, just as a person’s traits and characteristics from their individual identity.

Hopefully, you now understand the concept. So before diving into the visual elements, it’s crucial to lay a solid foundation for your brand.

Without the foundation, you’d be building a house on sand, and it’ll crumble when the tough winds and waters come.

I mean you’d be freaking out when people’s opinions and judgements start telling you “Who you are” or “are supposed to be.”

If you take anything down from this, it should be this part.

It’s more significant than you know.

It is one of the first things because it helps guide the decisions you make for your brand.

What do to and what not to do.

It’s easier to make decisions when they’re aligned with your brand’s overall strategy and goals.

There are four parts that make up the brand DNA and I’ll be using the analogy of someone going to the gym to give you more clarity.

1. Purpose:

It is the reason behind your every action.
It is what determines what your offer.
It represents your brand’s identity.

Defining your how(strategy) without defining why is like sailing a ship without a compass and your purpose isn’t meant to sit right with everyone.

Don’t expect everyone to respect it. Don’t expect everyone to get your perspective so take your stand with the people that support you.

The focus is not everyone, it is the right ones.

Purpose is why you exist.

For our analogy of the guy going to the gym, what is his purpose? “To stay healthy!” Because it is the fundamental reason behind going to the gym in the first place.

2. Vision:

Have you been so committed to something; you can’t go a day without thinking about it? Taking action on it? Can’t sleep without working on it?

Your vision should inspire you to take action and you’ll feel blissful each step you take towards it.

Without a vision, you could be executing your why, but you won’t know if it’s effective. You’d be surprised by the amount of stress people go through without a vision.

And a tip here is, let your vision be from you, and not some random stranger that you just happened to read their post.

But since copying is our default nature, it’s okay to copy, but modify it so it works for you.

Dream, but do not let dreams be your master.

The vision for our guy is “he wants to get fit!” Because it’s an aspirational goal or desired future state that he wants.

Therefore, your vision is your desired future state.

3. Mission:

For me, it was like I lost my mind while writing this down.

The mission compresses your goals into a few words.

Your mission is what you’re currently doing to achieve your vision. It shouldn’t be a stumbling block in the future, it’s okay to change it after you’ve redefined your goals.

Your vision should hint your audience about what your brand does and the impact it wants to make and there’s no limit to what your mission can be.

Just don’t get banned because of it.

Using our example, the mission could be compared to the specific fitness goals and objectives that the person sets for themselves. It shows actionable steps, exercises, and routines that the guy commits to in order to achieve his vision of getting fit and therefore fulfilling his purpose of staying healthy.

In short, the mission is the practical and tangible efforts that you put in on a regular basis to make progress toward your goals.

4. Values

Every day is a decision.

Making decisions requires that your mind be focused on a goal whether consciously or subconsciously.

Creating a strong brand identity is not only about beauty. It’s also about decision making.

Your values are a guide for all the decisions that you have to make.

Who do you want to work with?
What do you want to be associated with?

It comes down to your values.

Values are pretty useless if not crafted and implemented well.

You can’t just wake and pick values from your favorite creator and say, “these are my values.”

Think for yourself and have a why behind each one.

Well, that was a blast.
This will be all for this part, remember this statement that I created using AI.

The purpose drives the vision, which inspires the mission, guided by the values.

See you around!