There are no right or unique ways or methods, we can only affirm our preferences. Many designers and studies will tell you what is theirs the same we will tell you what’s ours. But we do have one advantage, we’ll let you know how you can approach by yourself if you are not in a position where you can outsource this effort.

What is branding?

• one of the first-ever meanings of the word resides in the practice of stamping, marking, animals, or objects.
• “Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand” (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
• Branding, in the current meaning of the word, is all about why you communicate your business through not only a name, or a logo, but a collection of symbols and behaviors.

How can it be achieved?

We came up with this formula, the best possible scenario and solution, whether you are just starting out as an entrepreneur or a small business.

• Start with Brand Strategy
• Make it better with some Brand Core
• Top it off with excellent Brand Design

What is Brand Strategy?

Not everything this to be in chronological order, however, if you are doing it yourself and probably don’t have that much experience in building a solid brand we do advise you to follow the steps in order.

Research & Discovery

• Start by analyzing the market and how your product fits in.
• Take the discoveries and spread them out. Really look at the findings in detail and find what’s missing, that’s where you’ll be able to fit perfectly.
• Check who they are targeting also, how they are communicating.

Personas & Journey Mapping

• After the previous step, you’ll have an effective vision of the market and its weaknesses. Turn those into your strengths.
• Map out your preferred, ideal, target audience. Build a persona, a maximum of three. These are the ones you’ll be targeting from here on now.
• Creating a journey map means planning the interaction the person will have with your brand and product, whether the first glance begins at a store or on a Facebook ad until it reaches the buying moment or even the pos-purchasing stage. Write down all the steps. Try and find creative solutions for these interactions.

What is Brand Core?

Brand Positioning

• Now that you have everything else settle you can actually begin crafting the way your brand will position within the market. How will people perceive it? How is your product or service being perceived in the audience’s mind?

The tone of Voice and Messaging

• Define the tone of voice and messaging that will follow your brand. It needs to be consistent. For example, if you are preaching for a better eco-friendly world, buying your paper for the packaging from a non-certified seller it’s not very considerate, therefore, very little consistent. Think about it ALL THE WAY.
• Your brand’s name should also translate these ideas.

What is Brand Design?

• The fun part begins, with customizing your brand’s visuals. People tend to jump directly to this stage, which you can do, but we do not advise it.
• Ideally, you should at least get help from a designer (like us cof cof) at this stage, but if you really don’t have any budget to do it, there are plenty of temporary solutions online. Or you can even, just play it safe, and choose a non-serif font like Helvetica.
• If you don’t have the resources keep it minimal. A lot of times we see people launching their businesses with too much clutter, making their message feel foggy and confusing. At least if you are going with something simple and minimal, there is plenty of space for people to read through it and understand what you are selling.

This is it for now. But don’t forget, we’ll still be around so you can subscribe to our newsletter where we release even more information and tips. Plus you can also find us on any social media platform of your choice!