In the second quarter of 2021, around 1.44 million people applied to start their own businesses. That’s a record high since the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Now that over a million people are looking to become entrepreneurs, people are having to find new and innovative ways to beat the competitive market.
How can this be done? It all starts with branding. Many people believe branding is simply about choosing the right colors and having a great logo. While all of this is true, those pieces are just the tip of the iceberg. Branding also includes your voice, message, persona, and several other factors to act as the “face” of your company.
Let’s dive into three different creative and effective branding and design in 2021 to keep up with the latest trends of 2021, and put you ahead of the game in your market.
Are You Asking The Right Questions?
If you’re asking the wrong questions, you’re going to end up with answers you don’t need. The same goes for brand design for any business. If your company isn’t asking the right questions for its consumers, you aren’t going to develop a brand that fits their needs.
According to Michael Johnson’s book, Branding in Five and a Half Steps, Johnson discusses the six important questions to answer at the very beginning stages of developing your brand.
These involve questioning why your brand exists in the first place, what sets your brand apart, what your brand values, and several other thought-provoking questions for your marketing team.
Here are the six questions from his book:
- Why are we here?
- What do we do, and how do we do it?
- What makes us different?
- Who are we here for?
- What do we value the most?
- What’s our personality?
Try not to get too ahead of yourself. Start by answering these questions in the brainstorming and developing process before randomly selecting pretty colors or creating a logo.
Personify Your Brand
For marketers and advertisers alike, this is one of their favorite creative parts of the branding process. Developing a brand that comes alive with thoughts, feelings, desires, and even a physical look can help you understand your target audience. It gives you a way to speak to your customer and relate to them on a personal level.
Brand personification is a technique that focuses on human connection. For example, Progressive has personified their brand through the use of Flo. She’s a quirky, vibrant, and energetic woman who has become the face of the auto insurance company for over fifteen years.
Her overall demographic fits the primary target audience for their company: women between the ages of 30 and 45 years old who are in the median income level. Flo is approachable and fun, which provides a sense of accessibility and ease when a customer approaches the company for their services.
Think Outside the Box, Literally
Not only does branding take place within your messaging, but how you present your product to the outside world can make all the difference. Burd and Fletcher, a leading company in product packaging, has used unique and creative strategies for their clients’ packaging for years. They’ve worked with businesses like Orville and Healthy Choice to look for innovative ways to implement their brands to communicate with their customers.
When working with Hostess, the designers at Burd and Fletcher had to think outside of the box with their design request. Hostess wanted cardboard boxes that acted as a caddie but could withstand the shipping process without being destroyed along the way.
This was beneficial for convenience stores that sold their pastries and desserts individually. Burd and Fletcher thought about the “convenience” consumers were looking for, which led to their designers creating a rip-off top on the box for an easy grab-and-go snack.
Before You Implement Your Brand
It’s easy to get inspired to create the brand of your company. Before you start, look at your competition. Do a proper analysis to see what currently exists and how your business offers something they don’t. Avoid the temptation to jump the gun. Work closely with your marketing and design team. If you don’t have one, look to professionals to outsource the branding for you. Branding is a heavy lift and you won’t want to do it alone.
