Being 2 powerful marketing elements, corporate and brand identity often gets confused between each other. If you are trying to create a brand, you should know the difference and utilize it for your own good. Today we’ll try to shed a light on how to distinguish the 2 notions and provide a checklist of how to determine if you are in fact building a brand.
What is the difference between corporate identity and brand identity?
Corporate identity is about internal activities that shape perception. Basically it is the way a company presents itself to the public. Whereas a brand identity is a system of elements that a company creates to portray their image.
Another way to look at the 2 notions is taking into account that under one company, there could be multiple brands. The company has their corporate identity, with a logo, design elements, and an image that runs through all of the brands under the corporate umbrella – each of the brands having their separate brand identities.
Brand identity primarily targets just customers, while the target of corporate identity is on the customers, stakeholders, and shareholders.
Another difference you may notice is that the corporate identity tends to be stable and unchanged for longer, than brand identity that is very flexible and can adhere to trends.
What are the elements of brand identity?
The main components of the brand identity are:
- Brand logo
- Brand color palette
- Brand fonts
- Brand typography
- Shapes & patterns
- Consistent style
- Brand guidelines
More on the brand identity elements, and why your brand should have them you can read in the dedicated article.
How to build a brand?
On that note let’s move on to a little present for you. If you’re creating a business, and are not sure if you’re moving in the right direction with your branding strategy – we’ve got you. Here’s a list of questions you can ask yourself to see if you are, in fact, building a brand. And learn what you should change!
Do you have the brand personality portrait?
Brand personality can be defined as a set of human characteristics that can be used to describe a certain brand. How do people perceive a brand, to what traits can a specific customer relate when using a brand? These traits are expressed as adjectives that answer the mentioned questions. For example, youthful, kind, elegant, manly, etc.
Do all of your design assets contribute to the main brand image and style?
Consistency is key when it comes to memorability: the more often your audience sees your attributes, the higher the chance they will recognize your banner, or think about you when they need a certain service.
Do you visualize and emphasize the brand’s attributes in the design assets?
Brand attributes are functional and emotional associations which are assigned to a brand by its customers and prospects. In other words, traits that you want to channel, and have people think about you. Ask yourself if you a) have defined those attributes, b) take them into account when creating any design asset. It can be a pattern, or a promotional video, or anything else.
Example: Let’s say one of your brand attributes is ‘Sophisticated’. In order to make people think that about your brand you can start with things as easy as choosing the right brand color palette. Sophisticated looks are created using purples, greys, and whites. Additionally you can pick a brand typography featuring Serif fonts, that are mostly associated with classics and elitism.
Can you and all your team members name 5 main brand attributes?
It’s hard to build your entire campaign around something you don’t know. You have to make sure that your team, and you know what you need to bring to your customers. You have to keep your brand attributes in your head, whatever step you take with your business. This will ensure that your decisions don’t go against your words, and positioning. People are quick to spot the discrepancies.
Do you have a brand book?
This one is important, since brand guidelines are your cheatlist. This is where you collect all of your attributes, styles, mission and vision, brand assets like colors and logos – and use them at all times. Brand guidelines serve a few purposes, one of which is to help you stay consistent in your branding, second is to let the world know your stance, and how to communicate with your brand.
At Gingersauce, we recognize the importance of creating a professional brand book, and that is why we decided to create our platform for brand guidelines creation. The platform will help you gather all your assets in one place, offer smart automation to cut on the time you spend on creating the document and will leave you with a professional, market standard PDF in the end. If you’re in need of a brand book, try creating one with Gingersauce. We promise – you’ll like it.
What associations customers should recognize while interacting with your brand?
Last but not least, defining the associations you want your customers to have with your brand will allow you to come up with some strategies to achieve your goal.
For instance, if you want your audience to think of your brand as knowledgeable, you may decide to establish a blog where you’ll educate your customers.
Creating a brand identity? Transform it into an awesome brand book with Gingersauce!
Gingersauce is a professional tool for creating brand guidelines, that combines smart automation and your creativity. It’s a professional tool – meaning, it won’t do a half-baked job, leaving you with a mediocre result.
Add all the brand identity elements as you go and receive an awesome and professional brand book in the outcome. Time — saved, the client’s expectations — surpassed.
