Brand identity - The Big Brand Theory

Brand identity is essentially what you would like your brand to be, represent or stand for.

It is what you say your brand is. The breaker or maker of your identity is the interpretation of your identity by people. If you say that your brand is or represents ‘A’, and people see or understand it to be ‘B’, then your brand identity is flawed, and therefore your entire brand is in jeopardy.

In building a truly awesome brand that people love, one of the first things to establish are your brand’s identity pillars of Who, What, Why. Who and What you are and Why you exist.

If your ‘Who-What-Why’ are average, then ultimately, your brand will inevitably be average. Which means, average brand recall, average sales, average revenues, average profits, and average market share.

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People don’t really buy what you sell to them (tangible products and/or intangible services), they buy (into) what you promise, your value. Value means providing what no-one else can provide. What no-one else can provide means being unique or different.

Your brand identity is therefore the fundamental premise from which to establish and build a truly awesome brand that authentically stands out. If you do not want to be an average brand, then instead of investing time and money in social media advertising for example, rather spend your time and other resources on getting your brand’s identity right. Make it tight.

When doing an internal audit of your brand, if you find that the identity isn’t strong, instead it is weak or average, then you should start working to strengthen and refine it. Everything else should be secondary.

Once ‘Who, What, Why’ are in place, it is just as critical to then establish your ‘How, Where, When’. With your brand identity well established, now you need to deliver. The questions to ask are; how will I deliver it? Will how I deliver it be aligned to the identity and personality of the brand? Where will I deliver it? When will I deliver it? The point of contact is just as important as the message itself.

• Your brand cannot be replicated
• You clarify your brand’s position amongst competitors (by the way, great and awesome brands do not strive to match competitors, they aim to obliterate them)
• You stand a good chance to be noticed, for people to pay attention
• You gain authority in your environment or the position you wish to cement
• You reduce clutter for your brand (people will choose your brand over and over again)
• You will build value around your brand which will convert to lots and lots of money that will be sustainable (over time).

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A well-established brand identity that is clearly defined, and most importantly, clearly understood by people will help quicken the decision-making or purchasing decision processes of customers.

Once they know who and what you are, and why you exists, they will choose you over everyone else.

Retail or point of purchase battles are not won in the isles of supermarkets only, they are won in the hearts and minds of your customers and prospects.

Once you have branded your identity, everything else will seamlessly fall into place, in a big way.