Successful brands are quickly identified by distinctive features, such as McDonald’s yellow arch, the Coca-Cola bottle, or Apple’s logo.
All these elements that define a brand’s identity; colors, font, slogan, packaging, etc. – end up creating value for these companies. They are, therefore, brand assets: what makes one brand distinct and stand out from the others.
Of course, these famous brands took years to build a strong, consistent, and easily recognizable visual identity. Every entrepreneur now dreams of having a unique identity that consumers instantly recognize.
That’s why it is very important that you identify and recognize your company’s assets and leverage them for your own benefit. If you do not know where to start, let’s take a look at four characteristic elements that will help you identify (and best employ) your brand’s assets.
The Name Speaks for Itself
A company or brand name is usually the first contact a consumer or potential customer has with your business. So you should think: is an anagram created in honor of your wife or a cute word whose meaning only you and your partners know a good name for the company to stand out?
A brand name can be an important asset when it speaks for itself. You immediately know what Google or Nike are referring to, even if these names have nothing to do with the products these companies sell.
So evaluate your company name and try to understand if it is memorable and if consumers can associate it with what you do.
Sometimes a unique name (like your last name) is enough, and sometimes a word that creatively describes your business is even better. But there are cases where selling literally what you make (think Home Depot, The Body Shop, or Whole Foods) it’s still the best way to become popular.
When naming or renaming your business, think of something that makes the consumer understand why you exist, and you won’t have to spend a dime on marketing to build meaning from scratch.
Design and Color Scheme
Your business logo’s design and color scheme are among your brand’s most important assets. A consumer immediately identifies a brand like Chanel just by two intertwined Cs, or Coca-Cola by the color red.
As they allow a quick and easy recognition of your company, the brand’s logo and colors must be created with great care and planning. Recent surveys have shown that consumers can recognize their preferred brands only by the primary color or a certain logo shape – and because of the quick identification, they naturally trust these companies more than others.
Researchers have also found that people form an opinion about companies or products within the first 90 seconds they come into contact with the business’s name or logo.
Therefore, a distinctive design and color palette are key elements for your brand to stand out from the competition and be recognized faster.
You can make your logo and color scheme better known by hiring the services of a reputable company or manufacturer to create unique printed marketing materials, such as T-shirts, pens, or mugs with your brand. A company like Quality Logo Products, one of the leading online companies that specialize in printing branded merchandise,
Marketing Positioning
A company’s strategic marketing positioning is also a great brand asset. Big companies can invest millions in advertising and attack on all fronts, running massive campaigns in both traditional and digital media. But how can smaller companies stand out from what their competitors offer?
If you don’t have enough funds to reach all consumers, it’s best to specialize in being one of the biggest (or the biggest) brands in your category. Instead of focusing on all the customers out there, direct your energies to the right audience – the one for whom your product or service is intended.
Think of interesting messages and slogans that reach your target audience, and always try to promote your brand differently and more creatively than your competitors.
Unique Products
Let’s start with an example: there are several companies selling pet food, but recently some brands have discovered that you can add value, and conquer a new share of the market, by offering pet food made with completely natural ingredients. So unique products or services are a business’s most important brand asset.
If you are in a business that has a lot of competition, it’s essential to use your head and creativity to define ways to stand out from other companies and have a unique product to offer.
Suppose you find it difficult to create something different. In that case, you can also stand out for offering a product with better quality than your competitors, giving consumers the idea that if they are going to invest in this particular product, they need to pay a little more for yours because it’s guaranteed to be unique and of the highest quality.
Stand Out and Shine
Brand assets are all those elements that help define and create your company’s uniqueness. When they are effective, they put you ahead of the competition, making customer identification much faster and more natural.
But distinguishing your brand from all others that sell the same products or services is slow, hard work. After all, it’s not enough to just have an easily recognizable logo or some creative, differentiated packaging.
It’s the combination of these different elements that create a unique identity. So start paying more attention to the four elements above to help create a relationship of connection and loyalty with your customers.