Foodies have been around forever since the age of fire to microwave, but today the competition in the food industry has reached newer heights. With so many restaurants and F & B brands competing to establish a premium brand and snatch the number one spot, what can you do to stand out?
For anyone working in the food business - launching your brand by creating the buzz around “insta-worthy” food items, pretty pictures, and tv shows-inspired interior may help jumpstart the business but novelty eventually wears off and people move on. To create a sustainable relationship with your customers it is important to go beyond the quality and services and craft exquisite brand experiences that stay with them and help forge an emotional or even better gastronomic connection.
While the nuances of food branding aren’t obvious and are a bit tricky to pin down, in the article, we will discuss ways to make the right impression and eventually create a signature brand identity.
1. Concept
For an F & B brand, a concept is defined by its culinary style, prices, interior design, service, seating, and ambiance. So, are you a premium dining restaurant, pop-up bar, pub, fast-casual, food truck or online order only spot? Your concept basically dictates how your product and services work.
Choosing a unique and appealing concept will make your brand stand out and give prospective customers an easy way to find your business with unique keyword combinations. In this digital age of highly targeted campaigns and keywords, your customers are likely to define their food preferences in their searches using the key phrase “vegan chocolate ice cream” instead of generic “ice cream.” Your concept has the potential to become your brand’s USP or Signature. Apart from everything, the concept will act as a primary tool for branding and work efficiently with word-of-mouth strategy, ideal to find your perfect set of audience.
2. Brand’s Philosophy and Vision
Your brand’s vision and philosophy lay the foundation of your values that your eatery hopes to achieve. A mission statement will allow your brand to connect with your customers, staff, and stakeholders. Your philosophy will also act as the element that will differentiate you from your competition. More often than not, brands with undefined mission and vision tend to struggle to find their brand identity and later the position in the market. Work on your mission statement, you can use it as a guide for the rest of your decisions regarding the visual elements of your brand.
3. Work On Logo & Tagline
You have heard it a million times that logos are the face of the brand but when it comes to food brands, it becomes the centerpiece of your entire branding strategy. Still not convinced? Suppose you are driving in the city, you will recognize the golden arches on a bright red background of McDonald’s’ in the sea of brands.
Also according to colour theory, warm colours like red, orange, and yellow work best for food branding. Green on the other hand is associated with natural and organic brands. And blue is recommended to be avoided as it has the least effect on the appetite.
While the logo visually represents your brand, the tagline on the other hand sums up the defining feature of your brand in line and is meant to strike a chord with your audience.
4. Tell Your Story
Everyone loves a good story. Storytelling is critical, it connects people and helps form new connections. So, if you are still contemplating or haven’t figured out how to tell your brand’s story well, you’re missing out on the huge revenue-boosting potential of your content marketing strategy.
How does it work with F&B brands?
The food and beverage marketplace is crowded with brands fighting for the attention of tech-savvy and socially connected customers, delivering great taste and optimal nutrition is no longer enough. To win a share of your consumer hearts and wallets, your brand must deliver an experience driven by emotions - design and content are the perfect channels to wield a story’s true magic.
5. Create A Website
The world is amid a pandemic, social media channels and online deliveries are the saving grace of the food and beverage industry. With contactless delivery and social distancing norms in place, your prospective guests and loyal customers might want to check out your website for your product range, menu, opening hours, or to simply learn more about your brand.
For an industry as dependent on visuals as f&b, we recommend you invest in a high-quality website and photoshoots, it will help you set the tone, voice, and aesthetics for your brand. While you are at it, keeping an active Instagram is highly recommended as a medium to express your aesthetics, new additions, and essence of your brand through images and videos. Being consistent with socials is worth it.
6. Invest In Visual Identity
The term visual identity imposes a huge selection of elements such as logo, typography, colours, shapes, images, etc. Though each element is crucial in design, when it comes to food branding, the packaging is the cohesive effect powerful enough to attract the customers.
While food is a sensory experience, your customers first experience your product through their eyes, not their taste buds, so the way you house your food or drink matters a lot. While it is easy to get swayed by the creative freedom, it is important to ask yourself: who is my customer? Will my customers have expendable income or are they on a strict budget? Are they eco-conscious or experimental? It is essential to understand your product and the people who will be purchasing your products, packaging them accordingly will increase the sales.
While we are at it, packaging also helps customers distinguish your product from the zillions of other options crowding shelves. Distinguishing yourself from your competitors is a great way to pave the way to signature brand identity.
Conclusion
By this time, you’ve settled on the major components of your brand, after they are made it’s important to make sure they make sense together. Though experimentation is a strong suit of the food industry, it is wise to tread delicately as it might miss the mark and leave your audience confused. When you aim to create a signature brand identity, take your time, and put thought into it, a great effort is always appreciated consciously and subconsciously by patrons and loyal customers.
If you wish to rebrand your own business whether it is a logo design, a website design, refreshed messaging, or a complete brand makeover, it’s time you get in touch with professional branding agencies like Vowels to make your vision come true. We specialize in brand consultancy, strategy, brand guidelines, CI manual, brand presentation, and corporate branding.
Extended across multiple countries like the Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, we believe in providing exclusive solutions to all your brand problems.
Also read - Brand Storytelling is Your Sales Team Head
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