- Branding is your business's first impression
- Branding helps your business stand out among competition
- Branding helps customers easily identify your business
- Branding helps convey the message of professionalism
Visual branding consists of many aspects: a logo, a color palette, packaging, typography, graphic elements, etc. It ties a feeling and perception to your business, and helps your business become memorable. Every business should have its own branding, as it offers many benefits.
- Branding is your business's first impression.
Branding is basically a first impression of your business. An eye-catching color or logo could be the only reason a customer chooses to buy your product over another. A cohesive and trendy packaging design can give customers the impression that your business is put-together and professional. Although we all know the phrase, "don't judge a book by its cover" many buyers push that to the side and make decisions based solely on appearance (I'm guilty).
Branding is especially important for attracting first-time buyers. First-time buyers often have little knowledge about the product itself and rely on your branding and packaging to determine whether or not to buy. Think about a customer looking to try out a new shampoo product. This customer has little knowledge of the shampoo market but wants something new. She goes to the convenience store and walks through the shampoo aisle. There are a ton of options to choose from, but she doesn't know which to pick. She scans the shelves, and a pink and purple bottle catches her eye. The logo is "cute", and packaging is aesthetically pleasing, so she puts it in her cart and buys it. Although this may sound silly, this is how many buyers think.
- Branding helps your business stand out against competitors.
Branding allows your business to stand out among your competitors. Imagine this: Your business is a pizza shop, and the red, white, and green logo on your front window looks like all of the other pizza shops in town. With your brand being visually similar to every other company in your industry, it is much harder to show new customers what makes your products or services different and attract customers.
Source: Victoria Harder, Dupe
The photo above shows various beverage brands at a grocery store. Which one stands out most to you? Since competition is high amongst the products in this photo, prices are very similar. Now the purchasing decision is based on the drink flavor and brand appearance. With similar flavors across different brands, the decision comes down to packaging appearance. While some buyers don't care about branding, and pick randomly, there will still be buyers who chose the bottle that looks "nice" because they believe that means the product will taste better. This ultimately leads to more sales.
- Branding helps returning customers identify your business with ease.
If a customer is loyal to your business, they will want to easily repurchase your products or services time and time again. A unique and uniform brand design among your business and products can help returning customers find your products and services with ease. Think about the popular ice cream company Ben & Jerry's. Their packaging showcases the same logo, color palette, and cow illustration on all of their products and ice cream flavors. This makes it very easy for customers to spot Ben & Jerry's products in store so they can purchase again and again.
Source: Hybrid Storytellers, Unsplash
For products that are in different departments, a uniform color palette and design will allow the customer to easily scan a shelf and identify your business’s products among the crowd. It would be much harder to quickly find matching products if one of your products' packaging is green and the other is pink. Take a look at the branding for the company Pattern Beauty. They have a uniform yellow, black, and white color palette with a cohesive face illustration amongst their products. Their packaging is eye-catching and memorable for new customers. You can easily identify Pattern Beauty’s products if they are separated in-store.
- Branding helps convey a message to customers.
The phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words" holds true when it comes to logos and brand design. Different styles and visual elements send different messages to the viewer. Take a look at the logo for Coca-Cola below. This logo features a script font in a bright red color. The typography mimics cursive writing, which conveys a message of class, quality, and nostalgia. The use of red catches your eye and also symbolizes power and strength. Combining these two elements, this logo portrays the message that Coca-Cola is a timeless, classic brand that is reliable with quality products.
Source: Coca-Cola
As both a consumer and a graphic designer, I have gained the design skills necessary to help bring branding visions to life. If you have not yet branded your business, it is essential to create a brand identity. Whether you do it yourself or use a third-party source, without a brand, you are limiting the potential growth of sales and your business as a whole. You might also be misleading customers. If you are interested in developing a brand identity for your business, or want to learn more, feel free to reach out by filling out a contact form! I'd love to help!