In the recent decade, more and more importance has been placed on brand and brand identity. Agencies are concerning themselves with proposing branding solutions to businesses, and whole teams are dedicated to assuring success in this area.
Needless to say, investing in brand identity can therefore demand considerable effort and budget. You might be wondering what the importance of brand identity is, and if it really benefits your business.
In this article, we will be exploring the term and its significance to modern organizations.
What’s Brand Identity?
Before we can examine the importance of brand identity for businesses, let’s define what the term means.
Your brand identity describes how your business is portrayed to its customers. It includes everything from your business name, design and logo, to the colours and shapes of your graphics and fonts. It incorporates your tone of voice on social media, the humour in your advertisement, the values you hold close and the mission statement you are pursuing.
Many strong brand identities are immediately recognizable and are known across the world. Such examples include Apple, Coca Cola, Adidas, Tesla and many others. These companies have invested millions into promoting and developing their brands and can share success stories as a result. Coca Cola, for example, can boast that 94% of the world’s population recognize their logo!
It’s easy to identify how branding played an essential role in getting these brands to where they are today. But why should you care about it for your business?
The Importance of Brand Identity
Your brand identity has the potential to make you stand out from your competition in a meaningful way. It cannot be understated how the brand can change the perception surrounding your product and elevate it to something more.
The importance of brand identity can be illustrated through the benefits it can provide to your business.
Win a Price Premium
Branded products can demand more money than those with a weak brand. That is because strong brands inspire trust and are associated with certain expectations. Apple and Microsoft, two long-time competitors, are probably the best examples in this case.
Although Microsoft’s products are often technologically at the same level as Apple products, Apple has won a loyal following through its branding. Its technologies are perceived as cutting-edge, modern and innovative. As a result, customers will pay a premium price for Apple products even if they are very similar in capabilities to much cheaper alternatives. 63% of people pay particular attention to brands when they choose a smartphone.
A strong brand makes your customer believe that they are paying for quality.
Build a Loyal Customer Base
It takes five to seven impressions of a brand for consumers to start recognizing you. Strong brand identity makes it easier for customers to remember your business. This means you can begin building a long-lasting relationship, whereby happy customers will return to support your brand.
It is much cheaper to retain customers over long periods than it is to invest in one-time only shoppers. The result of a strong brand shows in the bottom line. Businesses that present a consistent brand across multiple channels enjoy a 23% increase in their bottom line on average.
Showcasing a strong brand identity can help communicate your values to your customers and inspire them to support you. 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values.
The Importance of Brand Identity on Employment
Importance of Brand identity isn’t only to customers and marketing teams. Your recruitment process and employee retention could also heavily rely on how your company is branded.
That’s because employees too prefer to stay loyal to brands that share similar values to them. They are, in fact, willing to accept lower salaries if they believe their employer’s brand to be in line with their views. Companies with inferior branding pay 10% higher wages.
Additionally, over 90% of people would consider leaving their job if they were offered a position from a brand with an excellent corporate reputation. Suppose your business has a strong brand identity. In that case, skilled talent will also flock towards your job openings more frequently and manage the expectations of suitable applicants by its value signaling.
Having a great brand can reduce hiring and training expenses significantly.
Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Brand Identity
Let’s recap. A strong brand identity can make your customers perceive your products and services as higher quality. This empowers you to enjoy a price premium. Brand identity allows you to build loyal customer relationships and lift your bottom line. It also strengthens your position in the hiring market, securing better talent, and helping to retain employees that share your values. But, the brand identity needs to flow through everything in the organisation in order to be authentic and this is no mean feat, especially considering different geographies, time zones, and channels.
At SERVICEBRAND GLOBAL, we help authentic businesses embrace their values and formulate a strategy for a strong brand identity. Get in touch today to hear how we can help you profit from your brand.