Tag: brand guidelines

Branding Solutions: Thinking Of & For The Customer

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Before we start, one thing around which everything else revolves is the fact that customers are human beings. They have emotions, they appreciate honesty and not to forget, they love surprises. Hence, at most times, while the marketing team might just be devising strategies to sell their product to prospective customers, they overlook their existence as human beings and that’s the catch. Here’s how we can make the customer think that we think about them and in turn, get customer love — a treasure for any brand. Whether it is a brand revolving around men’s grooming products, kids toys or women apparels, their success comes by unlocking customer love. And below is the key.

Make it delightful

 

Brands Delivering Happiness

 
Sending an unexpected freebie with an order or giving a free access pass to a popular event happening in town next month, or giving free samples of your products, or printing coupon codes on your inside packaging which can be redeemed to get discounts on different online sites or to get free internet, etc. Something like “Pay What You Want” is the highest form of delight a brand can offer but there could be resistance for the same owing to feasibility reasons. However, it has been noted in the past that brands offering such schemes become long-term success stories. It may not be profitable initially but in the long run, their success is far more than imaginable.

Another great way to spread joy is by passing on the ability to give joy

Careem - a Ride-Hailing App is winning hearts in the Middle East. How? Careem Rewards System makes every rider get extra reward points after every food order or ride booking. These points could either be redeemed in future rides or donated for charity supporting the refugees. That’s not all. Careem lets its users donate food to the underprivileged children through its app as part of its collaboration with the World Food Programme’s ShareTheMeal app. All this and more to increase the “Feel Good” factor for the existing users and to attract new ones.

Making a part of someone’s life easier

 

When any part of people’s lives is made easier, they feel delighted and if the reason is your product, they are likely to come back to stay. When you are able to understand the pain-point of a group of audience or overall humankind, you can create a product which solves that problem. This is being empathetic. When your product is empathy-driven, it resolves the real problem and hence, it will bring you a fortune. Sounds like a lot of work? Trust us, it’s worth it!

Using transparency in your favour

 

People today want to know what they are buying, where are you sourcing the raw material from. If you are selling chairs, you already must be telling where these chairs were made, what material has been used, etc. However, to win customer love, try to show a picture of the artisan working on that chair, his name and age, the town he belongs to, etc. If not the artisan, then you could portray how this chair’s material can be recycled or disposed of in a more nature-loving way.

Personalisation is profitable

 

Customisation creates excitement. Customers want “unique commodities”, “designed just for them”, “limited edition”. These terms give them a sense of pride and exclusivity. They feel privileged and are ready to pay a hefty price for it. Automobile companies like Volvo, Mercedes Benz launched their Limited Edition cars with customised number plates that were sold out within a few hours.

The idea of owning something which will only have limited pieces on Earth is exhilarating and the price takes a backseat while making purchasing decisions of something as premium and personalised as this.

Selling Memories and Places

 

Life may be really fast paced but some emotions stay, some memories stay, and they stay there unconsciously. Whether it’s the insta polaroids or a better version of a candy that reminds people of their childhood. It sells because there is an emotional urge in the human mind to revisit good old memories. Pro Tip: If your products are being produced locally, try adding the “Buy Local” tag to engage with the localites.

Now, having discussed the different ways to make a customer yours by spreading goodness, you could go for one or a combination of these different schemes. However, there may be several brands who are customising or who are being ultra transparent about their operations or who are solving a problem faced by society or who are letting their customers pay to the needy through their purchases, but they haven’t been able to get the level of traction they deserve. Why? The reason is simple. They haven’t been able to share their intentions with the correct target audience and what’s stopping them? Their branding. The content on their packaging doesn’t clearly state how they care for the customer which is possibly why the customer doesn’t care to pick that product in the first place. The right words, the right content when printed on the perfect packaging, reaches the target audience, it strikes a chord and what follows is glory!

At Vowels, we formulate the customer persona — which varies from brand to brand. Understanding the customer persona is of paramount importance as it focuses on the key traits of your target customer, the traits which affect his purchasing decision in the short-term as well as long-term. From demographics (age, gender, location, and occupation, etc.) to diving deep into their aspirations, taste, and the problems they are facing amongst an array of other parameters help us to create a clear picture of “WHO” would be the real consumer of the product. As a matter of fact, the branding solutions we provide are typically based on our research-based customer persona; something that sets us apart and is one of the many reasons for the sustained success of the brands we have worked with.

If you have been planning to get packaging done for your new product launches or simply repackage already existing products with content that strikes a chord, we’ve got you covered. If you are working on a new startup or rebranding an existing one, look no further for all your branding needs. Whether it is a logo redesign, a website redesign, powerful packaging, 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.

A Preparation Guide for Your Brand, for the Dubai Expo 2020

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While most of us are still recovering from the adverse effects on our businesses and brands, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, The UAE expo 2020 has emerged as a ray of hope for us. Being blessed by such an opportunity, how do you determine if your brand is ready yet?

With an expected footfall of 25 million people, from across the globe, The UAE expo is all set to welcome you to the ocean filled with abundant growth opportunities for your brand. Now it’s time for your brand to gear up for the dive and prepare in full swing.

Preparation is the key!

 

The clock is ticking, and the countdown has already begun!

Planning and preparing paves a concrete pathway towards the success of anything. Planning for such an event, does not end with the hotel bookings and securing your booth, it BEGINS right there. With proper strategy and plans in place, your brand can secure the spotlight and get the best out of the UAE expo 2020.

Is your Brand strategy in place yet?

 

The UAE Expo is a perfect opportunity for every business or a brand to re-analyse its Brand Strategy. Whether you are thinking of launching a new product, or curating a new service, it is extremely crucial for your brand, a well executed brand strategy can help you secure the spotlight at the UAE Expo 2020.

While trade shows and expos can be a challenging space for brands, they also provide a space for immense growth and development at the same time. Crafting engagement led experiences which deliver the authenticity of the brand can help build stronger consumer relationships.

A brand strategy also consists of a Brand experience which not only highlights the product or a service, rather it focuses on communicating the brand story woven with the nuances of serving the consumer. While the tangible aspects always seem to steal the show, it is also significant to focus on the intangible aspects, like the brand promise of assurance and quality, smooth communication, and consumer support. A well planned brand strategy serves you with an opportunity to focus on the intangible and deliver an experience which evokes a sense of reliability for the consumer.

A brand strategy involves telling a story consistently across all platforms yet uniquely tailored for each platform. Conveying a story involves putting your core competencies & Values into a consistent brand identity which uniquely associates with your brand. Effective communication of the visual identity of the brand, derived and developed from the brand colour palette, can help develop and create an associative image in the consumer’s mind, which in turn compliments the loyalty of the consumer to the brand.

Update your Brand Guidelines

 

The UAE Expo 2020 is all set to provide you with a stage to showcase the ultimate potential of your brand, you possibly cannot afford to go wrong. Brand guidelines consist of a toolkit which ensures a consistent brand identity, through various communication channels and delivers information about what the brand actually does. Whether it’s your packaging design, or landing pages for your website, or even your social media campaigns, an effective brand communication crafted surrounding your participation in the UAE Expo 2020 can help you create a rather relatable brand image for your consumers.

UAE Expo 2020 is an opportunity for you to uniquely craft an experience which tailors your Brand identity with brand guidelines and bridge the communication gap between the consumer and the brand. Detail out information in various forms like product brochures, Activation creatives, Newsletters, and advertisements to announce your presence at the Expo 2020.

Crafting a unique Communication strategy

 

Communication plays a very important role in generating awareness amongst your consumer base. While we are living in the Digital era, we are blessed with numerous platforms to establish an effective communication channel with our potential audiences. This also comes with a challenge of identifying the uniqueness of every platform and tailoring your strategies around the same.

This is where you answer all the questions for yourself, and for your audience. Focus on all the preparatory hype that your brand could create about your presence at the UAE expo 2020.

Get Social!

 

Develop a Social media campaign in order to spread awareness about your presence at the UAE Expo 2020. Every brand is unique in its own ways. There are a set of Brand values which define the roots of the brand. It’s a unique opportunity for your brand to re-communicate its potential, by deep diving into the brand story and pulling out content which conveys the most relevant information about the brand. With exercising regular social media engagement, one can also look at expanding horizons, in terms of the content that needs to be circulated. Remember the underlying focus of the campaign is to “tell people” about your presence at the expo, and Social media can result into being an extremely effective tool if your Engagement plan is right in place.

Focus on generating content around the information related to the UAE expo 2020, this can result in increased traction for your social handles, and help you gain a better reach. You can also focus on Email marketing, reach out to your existing customer base via email, it is completely free of cost and you might just end up making a sale. LinkedIN is emerging as another effective platform for brands to connect with their audiences, many brands are already out there communicating to their audience about the UAE Expo 2020. Look at how Swatch has started with a Video marketing strategy which highlights their new product and uniquely announces their participation at Expo 2020.

Your communication strategy should focus on nurturing your existing consumer base and at the same time also focus on generating more leads by creating and curating engaging content across various communication channels out there.

The time is NOW!

 

That new product or a service that you’ve been waiting to launch for so long, and 2020 just brushed away all our plans just like that! Well, no more, especially when we have learnt to survive amidst a Pandemic. The UAE Expo 2020 has swooped in like a superhero and has provided us with a pool of limitless opportunities, it’s time we revisit our plans and deliver even better products/services for our audiences.

Trade shows are the best places to launch new products and services, as it provides you with an opportunity to connect with a vast variety of audiences. It’s time for you to look at developing a branding strategy around your new product or service, and create an effective visual language which communicates all the relevant information about your product or service.

Once you have the right Branding in place, it is time to plan your launch and create a hype around the same. Feature content which helps you create a build-up around your product/service, this will get your targeted buyer groups excited to meet you at the UAE Expo 2020.

Create an unforgettable experience for your visitor!

 

Once you are past the pre-planning stage, and you have got your marketing tools in place, it is time to also plan your presence at the UAE Expo 2020 . Now when you have secured the booth, and marketed your presence in the most effective ways, it is significant that your setup speaks your Brand Language out loud.

It is an opportunity for your brand to engage with potential leads and tell your brand story in the most interactive manner. Design your booth in a way that it complements the visual language of your brand, which means choosing the right colors, and décor products. You can also look at Video marketing and create motion graphics targeting the product/service you want to showcase. Make usage of print marketing by investing in designing a brand catalogue for your audiences, and keep it handy at your booth. To generate better one on one engagements, you brand can focus on activations by curating contests and planning giveaways. Product demonstrations can also prove to be extremely effective as it provides your audience with a first-hand interaction with your product.

Get Set Go!

 

Now, when we have our communication tools and right brand strategies in place. It is time for us to take action and make the most of this opportunity that has been handed to us. You cannot afford to lose out on such a vast opportunity of growth for your brand. It is the best time for you to begin with crafting a plan of action and deliver an outstanding performance at the Expo2020.

Have something in mind? Let us take over and we will make sure your brand stands out at the Dubai Expo 2020! From brand consultancy to crafting the most effective Digital Marketing strategies, we’ve got you covered. We curate brand experiences like never before. Get in touch with Vowels, and get your planning and execution sorted right here!

Also Read - Smart Packaging Is The Future: Packaging Strategies of HUL, ITC, Red Bull and more

Ultimate Guide To A Brand Starter Kit

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Branding is one of the most important factors for a business’ marketing and the key to a business’ success. The success is mainly a result of clear communication between clients and the designer. Apart from branding, a branding kit is the next important factor that helps you craft an identity.

Whether you’re part of a large or small organization, brand kits are essential assets that you should have at the ready. That’s where this guide comes in. In this article, we’ll unpack what a brand kit is, how it is different from brand guidelines, and why it’s so important to your company?

Let’s start with the basics!

What Is A Brand Kit?

A brand kit is a resource containing the rules of your brand and how people should apply it holistically to maintain brand consistency. It includes critical visual assets and information, such as where to find logos, how to use them, approved colour palettes, typography styles, and other visual attributes. It helps your employees, branding agencies, stakeholders and company express what it is. Your brand can describe everything about your products or services.

For an agency or designer, a brand kit can prove to be a lifesaver as it helps the client to understand what kind of journey they are undertaking. They can relate the design to the brand vision and goals in a clear, simple, straightforward way. In short, a brand kit allows the client to see design concepts in a way that they can instantly understand and visualize.

What’s The Difference Between Brand Guidelines And A Brand Kit

What’s The Difference Between Brand Guidelines And A Brand Kit?

While bothbrand guidelines and a brand identity kit fundamentally believe in upholding consistency in design and voice, they aren’t the same. While a brand kit speaks more to the visual elements of the brand, brand guidelines comprise a set of standards, instructions, and details that explain how the brand should communicate –– in written, visual, or audio mediums.

Why Should You Invest In A Brand Kit?

Now, when the basics are clear, the next big question is why should you invest in a brand kit? The answer is simple- consistency creates identity. With freelancers, branding agencies, internal teams, and many others using your brand in communications and content, it’s easy for inconsistencies and misuse to arise. A brand identity kit can help these disparate groups and individuals with the tools and information they need to uphold your brand consistently.

Here are some more reasons that highlight the importance of having a brand kit.

  • Promotes Recognition

    With numerous promotional & branding materials going out weekly, it helps your team create a standard and people can easily recognize your brand which further helps them feel at ease in purchasing your products or services.

  • Helps You Stand Out From The Competition

    When the world is overflowing with information and overcrowding with brands, how much do you stand out from the crowd? Whatever the competition is, an effective branding kit increases your brand image and makes your business stand out.

  • Improves Your Communication

    Marketing is an important factor for every business. The key to understanding and communicating your brand identity to those who matter most is a brand kit. Wrapped in a neat little package, the kit can be sent to external stakeholders, internal teams, and advocate partners.

  • Helps You Win New Business

    The branding kit presents a perfect opportunity for you to stand apart from the crowd and win new business. People always love to tell about the brands they love. So an effective branding kit for your business can provide motivation, direction for your staff and generate footfall or sales.

  • Branding Kit Is An ‘Identity Kit’

    Large or small, a brand kit is useful within the organization as it reflects company identity. For one, as your business grows, you want to make sure your brand image and message don’t become diluted or misrepresented. A brand kit creates a consistent, memorable brand identity.

What To Include In A Brand Kit?

Logo

“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration” - Jeffrey Zeldman

Every brand begins with a vision. And every vision is to be encapsulated in a logo. This is not a small task. This is where the designer needs to listen to the client and ask valuable questions like what is the vision of the company? Who is the audience? Is there any inspiration, vision, or story that has influenced the evolution of the idea? This is the part where all of the ingredients are thrown together and experimentation begins.

As a company, while developing your story in form of a brand kit include technical details like all logo and wordmark variations like vertical, horizontal, and tagline versions. Protect against incorrect colours, pixelation, and modifications by detailing use cases and instructions so that there is no room for interpretation.

Colour Profile

“A colour is as strong as the impression it creates” — Ivan Albright

While the logo becomes the symbol for the brand, the colour works as an unspoken backdrop on which brand image is built. Clients and designers at times can easily fall into the trap of randomly picking their favourite hues unaware that Psychologists have repeatedly demonstrated that colour influences mood, so tethering the palette to the personality of the brand is crucial.

In a brand kit rather than mentioning common words like ‘red’ and ‘ sky blue’, assign a CMYK, RGB, and PMS color code. As such, your brand identity kit must include your brand’s color identifiers. Take care to include your brand’s primary colours, as well as the secondary and tertiary colours that support and complement your main colour palette. Lastly, be specific and provide directions on when it’s appropriate to use colours, and combinations from the palettes.

A harmonious palette allows the client to experience their brand through the eyes of the audience.

Typography

“Typography is two-dimensional architecture, based on experience and imagination, and guided by rules and readability.” - Hermann Zapf

The beauty of a typeface lies in its utility; prettiness without readability serves no one. The fonts and its thickness, curves, and size should communicate your brand, a contribution to its identity — the people, products, and culture that it embodies.

For a brand kit, think through all cases and scenarios to provide type treatment guidelines around size, hierarchy, and font-weight. For instance, in the case of blogs as a category, specify approved font sizes for blog headlines versus sub-headline and body copy.

It is crucial to have strict typography rules for advertisements and sales collateral. Striking a balance between the creatives and marketers is the key. As a brand you allow creative freedom to push the envelope but control the critical elements that can directly affect the identity.

Application

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” - Steve Jobs

Just as your brand has unique character traits, it also has a look, feel, and visual identity that plays a role in the recognition and perception of your brand. Brand Starter Kit is the road map opportunity to show the client exactly how their solution will lock together and work across various channels. This can be as simple as the basic range of devices.

For larger projects, it can include promotional and merchandise material, as well as any advertisements that are already in the pipeline. The kit helps you put your brand’s visual identity into words. Figuring out what mood, feeling, or emotions should your brand elicit from your audience are some of the core purposes of a Brand Starter kit.

For those who are planning to launch a new startup or rebrand an existing one whether it is a logo redesign, a website redesign, 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.

Contact Us

Check out our work at Vowels UAE
We are always available at [email protected].
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(+91) 97858 40004

Also Read - Rebranding Strategy: How To Make A Powerful Impression At Expo 2021 Dubai

Why Do You Need A Brand Guideline?

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Imagine you have a product with the potential to be a memorable brand. But for that, you need a perfect marketing strategy. A compilation of everything from email marketing and content creation to PPC and website design. While all the components are complex and crucial, they have to be connected to be effective - to be memorable.

That’s where brand guidelines come in - something that goes far beyond a logo or icon. It’s an investment to ensure that all your marketing efforts are working towards the common goal of gradually building up brand recognition among potential and existing customers.

Brand Guidelines communicate a variety of things about your brand, both internally to your organization or business, as well as externally to your partners, affiliates, and the general public. It can range from the core values and vision to elements like colours, imagery, fonts, tone, and even the feeling you get when you see one of their ads. In a nutshell, brand guidelines ensure consistency and continuity with your brand’s visual identity and underpinning strategy.

Still not convinced? Here are 5 compelling reasons to have your own set of brand guidelines.

Consistency Is The Key

The key to creating a strong brand identity is consistency. Brand consistency is the pattern of expression that affects what people think about your company. The more consistent your messaging, the more consistent your branding. A harmonious correlation between words, design, or perspective helps clarify what your business stands for, allowing your business to communicate your purpose, personality, and promises.

3 critical areas where brand consistency drive customer loyalty:

  • Customer Experience – Providing a consistent customer experience fosters trust and confidence in your brand.

  • Values – Backup your promises with actions.

  • Brand Identity – Consistency in visual components make your brand recognizable and help you stand out from your competition.

Example: The consistent red and white branding with the iconic cursive logo of Coca-Cola evokes the same feeling of positivity, authenticity, inclusiveness no matter where you are in the world.

Recognize and Recollection

According to a study by Nielsen, a global marketing research firm, “consumers only buy from a small repertoire of brands, and the average customer spends 13 seconds purchasing those branded items in store. In other words, when your customer scans the shelves, they reach for what’s familiar and they do it fast. This is known as ‘instinct buying’”.

So, when you are looking for chips, you instinctively move towards the colourful packets of lays. You don’t check out the brand, you know the colour, size, and taste. That is why consistent brand recognition is so important.

Brand guidelines help you deliver a cohesive brand experience, making it easier for people to recognize your value. When you consistently provide high-quality content, customers come to rely on you and—even better—seek out your content. They trust you will deliver what they want every time, and that trust is the basis of a long-term relationship.

Adds Value

When your brand’s identity is cohesive, the perceived value of the brand increases. Consistency allows your brand to appear more professional and reliable. By implementing brand guidelines, you ensure that you’re always putting out content you’re proud of along with maintaining the quality and integrity of your brand.

Aesthetics Over Everything

Clear communication and good design make your reader/viewer’s life a lot easier. Simple acts of alignment, data visualization, aesthetically pleasing colour, or readable typography help creators design content more effectively. Also, it shows your customers that you care about your brand and value their time.

Apart from the visual aspect, an inconsistent brand experience not only weakens your marketing efforts - it promotes distrust among your customers. You can initiate the best social media marketing campaigns and a series of blog posts, but if they don’t align the body with values, it won’t resonate.

Stay Focused

While launching a new product or re-branding the existing ones, a brand can get stretched too thin. By implementing brand guidelines, you have a general direction and tools to effectively maintain consistency while increasing the quality of the content. Brand guidelines help you stay sane and aim your business’s interests with your intended audience.

What is Included in Brand Guidelines?

Colour Palette

For brand recognition, brand colours have to be simple and consistent. In the past, brands picked one or two colours but the present-day brands multiple color schemes to add vitality to their brand communications.

Whatever the choice, it’s a good idea to make your core brand colors clear. Don’t forget to include the necessary hex codes, RGB values, and CMYK color codes to make sure your colours are presented consistently across media. Along with these instructions, you must mention the shade variations, and some do’s and don’ts.

Typography

Choose typography that matches your brand’s visual style. It is one of those things that go unnoticed if it’s done well but sticks out like a sore thumb if it’s not.

To enhance your brand experience, use a brand style guide to ensure you are using consistent typefaces and families, font sizes, and the hierarchy of the fonts across your collateral.

Logo Design

The logo is one of the most consistently visible parts of your brand. And how your logo should be displayed in different formats is an important part of your guidelines. A brand guideline should include size restrictions, colour combinations, and how your logo should look on different backgrounds making it tough to go wrong.

It doesn’t hurt to give some concrete examples, making it dummy-proof. Here are some of the dos and don’ts:

Brand Voice

Brand voice refers to the words that your brand chooses to use to show your company’s values and personality. And the importance of having a consistent brand voice in your messaging should not be underestimated.

It is crucial to spend some time finding the style that resonates with your audience and aligns with the personality of your brand. Once you have it figured out, ensure that it’s replicated across your channels.

Skype has gone above and beyond in defining their voice–including a ton of dos and don’ts for grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, naming, and tone.

Brand Story

Every brand is backed up by a compelling brand story. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, the brand story wraps up a company’s vision, mission, and core values. The best kind of stories add a dash of their personality.

For example- Land Rover’s campaign video ‘ The Land of Land Rover’ offers a brilliant example and a reminder that the best stories are not your own, but those of your customers and your fans. Caring for those stories brings them to life and prioritizing them over your product message makes them iconic.

Image & Data Visualization

Imagery could include the style of photographs, colour, and content your company uses on website or marketing collaterals that contributes to the perception of your brand.

A brand guideline creates a general guideline for imagery (photos, illustrations, charts, infographics, etc.) that are to be included in your brand’s promotional materials.

Conclusion

A brand book is the physical manifestation of the living, breathing concept that is your brand. Without a guiding document, any brand can spin out into inconsistent chaos. In an attempt to slow that process, Marketing Departments often develop Brand usage guidelines. These guiding documents have a lot of names: Brand Book, Brand Guidelines, Brand Bible, Brand Usage Guide, CI Manual, Identity Guidelines, etc.

Irrespective of several names, a brand guide’s sole motivation is to keep your brand identity consistent, recognizable, and still unique, even as several different minds work to develop content for your brand. Since a style guide defines a brand’s identity, it’s important to spend the time and resources to get it right.

Get in touch with us, and we promise to build a style guide that helps you maintain a strong, cohesive, and distinguishable brand.

Also Read - What are the 5 elements of Successful Branding?