7 Most Significant Brand Identity Elements & Its Influence over building a brand

All of us know that branding is not so easy. But, who makes this difficult task easy? It’s none other than the brand identity. Brand identity, in reality, is very important for the success of any brand, and the elements of brand identity serve this purpose. But, what are the elements of brand identity?

In this article, we shall disscuss regarding brand identity elements and its influence and and usefulness to build the brand identity.

Table of Contents

What are Brand Identity Elements? – Definition

Brand identity elements may be defined as either visual or verbal data that assists in identifying or differentiating a product. They are chosen to enhance brand awareness or facilitate the formation of unique brand associations that are also strong and favorable.

The biggest tryout of the brand-building offering of brand elements of a brand is what comes as an opinion of the consumers regarding that brand’s product or service on knowing about the brand’s name, its connected logo, etc. Because of the different advantages of the brand elements, either a sub-set or all of them are frequently employed.

Brand Identity Elements –

Here are some of the important brand elements that are going to be explored here to identify how they function jointly or separately and contribute to brand equity.

1) Brand Logo & Symbols:

Visual images always attract us and fixes in our minds. And that’s the concept behind making brand logos and symbols for a brand. Visual brand elements always have a significant role in building brand equity, particularly in terms of a firm’s brand awareness. The visual identity is crucial for establishing or maintaining its existence in the marketplace.

It also makes possible the development of highly memorable or easily recognizable visual brand signals in the mind of the consumers that trigger them to invent associations between the company’s brand itself & the chosen position of the brand. Logos may be defined as visual icons that provide two basic and crucial functions for brands. Its functions are:

a) Identification:

Logos makes a brand identifiable by the consumers and unearths the specific offering of the brand.

b) Differentiation:

It also tells or points out how the offering of a particular brand is distinct from the offerings of other brands or the other brands themselves.

Over time, logos or symbols directly get correlated with their brands. Whether one’s vision of a logo is from a nearby or a distance, the visual icon always gets equated with its represented brand. So, even if you are driving abroad, you will always understand that a red symbol with an octagonal shape means you have to ‘STOP.’

Another example of the importance of logos is small children (who can’t read) while passing the shop “McDonald’s” crying out for a burger just by recognizing the shop by its golden arches.

Some of the other strong brands with powerful logos (word-marked) are Coca-Cola, Kit-Kat & Dunhill. Some other brand logos that are abstract include Mercedes star, CBS eye, Olympic rings, Rolex crown, Nike Swoosh, etc. These brands have non-word mark logos and so are called symbols. Strong symbols often provide an identity configuration and cohesion, making them susceptible to recognition or recall.

However, it must be remembered that meaning conveying logos is more readily recognized or remembered than abstract logos.

Multi-product companies known for developing family and umbrella brands can inevitably use abstract logos for their brands to gain recognition and popularity. That’s why these companies may need to update their logos frequently.

However, if done, changing the brand logo must always be committed so that it becomes customer tolerable. Some brands change their logos to earn a more modern and eye-catchy look. For instance, the US’s 2nd largest hamburger chain, Burger King, has put blue on its new logo to make it more eye-catchy. Its slanted graphics represent speed.

2) Brand Characters:

Brand Characters may be defined as a special brand symbol that possesses human or real-life traits. They are often colorful with enriched imagery to grab the viewers’ attention and partake in brand equity.

In today’s crowded and competitive market, characters possess the ability to formulate pure brand salience. A shortcut consideration, a character can establish a much greater perception than a single static logo.

They can be in different forms, such as animated characters, live-action figures, etc. Examples of a few strong characters of some powerful brands are Poppin’ Fresh Doughboy of Pillsbury, the Snap, Crackle & Pop gnomes of Kellogg’s Rice Crispies, etc.

3) Brand Packaging:

Brand Packaging is also an important brand element as its design, color, labeling, materials used, and shape fixes in the consumers’ minds resulting in their easy reorganization of the brand. For instance, Rachel’s organic butter chose black-colored packaging for a premium and stand-out look compared to its other competitors.

By choosing the correct aesthetic and functional components of packaging, one can hit the desires of the target consumers and achieve their marketing objective easily. The packaging must be resalable, tamperproof & easy-to-use.

4) Brand Name:

A brand name identifies the company’s product and what it offers to the public by distinguishing them from its competitors. For example, Band-Aid is a brand name of an adhesive bandage company.

5) Brand Typography:

The fonts that various companies use in all the business materials they create. Attractive or unique fonts can also make people recognize or recall your brand. Besides, a brand’s setup font makes it easy to give business writings a cohesive look. For example, Spotify, a streaming service, uses sans-serif font to highlight its contents, and it remains the same within its platform or marketing materials.

6) Brand Tone & Voice:

Is your brand related to something funny or humorous or more professional & academic-like? Pick up the tone of voice for your business that is desirable to your target audience. It’s a substantial brand identity elements that conveys your brand personality.

7) Brand Slogans Or Catchphrases:

Communication of descriptive and persuasive information about any brand is necessary, called brand slogans. A slogan is known for capturing a brand’s essence & becoming a vital part of a brand’s brand equity. Though they appear in advertisements, slogans play significant roles in packaging and other marketing activities.

They function as valuable ‘hooks’ and help consumers comprehend a brand’s actual meaning regarding its positioning. They also summarize the advertisements’ themes and give continuity when the copy is altered within or across the advertising campaigns. An example of a powerful slogan for Kit-Kat is- “Have a break, Have a Kit Kat.”

8) Brand Jingles:

Brand Jingles may be described as the musical messages of a brand written around it. Jingles are composed by experienced as well as professional songwriters. They give the jingles enough catchy hooks with choruses such that, willingly or unwillingly, they get perpetually registered in the listeners’ minds.

Wrapping Up –

So, if you want to build a strong brand identity and brand equity for your brand, try to focus on the brand identity elements of your brand and sales will automatically get multiply when it gets the vast attention of the consumers.

Recommended Artilces –

Brand Positioning

How to write a brand positioning statement?

Brand Positioning Strategy

References: