Branding and Graphic Design

The Role of Branding and Graphic Design in Business Marketing

With any business, establishing your space in the market and to your target market is vital. Right from the very start, you should implement comprehensive and well-strategised branding for your business, and graphic design has a big role to play in your branding.

Building your brand around your products or services is easily done if you have the right background knowledge and research.

Conversely, it can create problems if you don’t have the right information on how to do it.

Branding is not the most critical factor to make your business a success, but a strong brand identity can create many advantages.

So, why is it important to have a great brand identity and how can it help you in your overall business marketing efforts.

What is the role of Branding?

Definition of branding: The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.

It also helps to represent what you offer as a business, what you sell, and how different you are from other products or services.

Your brand is like the public face and personality of your company.

Branding is not limited to logos, designs, and company colour palette.

It also includes every part that completes your business – from typography styles to the packaging of your products, right down to your email signature and the overall presentation of the company.

It covers everything you present as a business.

Branding is the physical image and personality of who you are as a business and who your target customers want and need you to be

Why is Branding Important?

Good design

is good business.

Watson JR, IBM

Besides from making a lasting impression on your customers, the role of branding also identifies what you can offer your customers and clients.

It is a way to differentiate yourself from your competition and to establish your business as the best choice among all other brands. Are you the innovator or the maverick in your industry? Are you the experienced, reliable one? Is your product the high-cost, high-quality option, or the low-cost, high-value option? You can’t be both, and you can’t be all things to all people.

No company disregards making their brand, or should even assumes that they don’t have any branding.

Your brand can affect how people see you, increases the number of people who are aware of your business and can improve your customer conversion rate.

Six ways strong branding helps your business be successful:

1. Sets You Apart from the Competition

Customers do not develop relationships with products; they build loyalty and trust with brands. 

For example, if we look at all butter brands, if there was no marketing, or branding, they would all be the same in the eyes of the customer. 

Customers will see all of the butter products as the same; made from milk.

With branding, your customers will able to identify that your product is not just any other butter in the market, but there will be a distinguishing factor that would make them buy your butter above all of your competitors. 

It is not because your butter is from a different kind of cow, it is because they can relate to your brand and exhibit loyalty to it.

Your brand’s promises are influencing them to buy your brand.

2. Improves Brand Recognition

Your company logo design is one of the critical elements of your brand.

We can instantly identify the apple of Apple or the specific shade of blue that is wrapped around Heinz baked beans.

Your logo design plays a critical role in your brand because it will be the “face” of your business – seen on your website, packaging and promotional materials right down to your email signature.

An effective logo design is simple, but clear enough to make a lasting impression on your customers.

3. Builds Trust in Your Marketplace

The brand building also helps you to build brand equity with your target audience.

It develops brand loyalty which makes your customers keep coming back to purchase your products.

The added value intrinsic to brand equity often comes in the form of perceived quality or an emotional attachment.

Amongst the many elements defined as part of branding, your businesses values are a key part of it, and these are vital to create that emotional connection.

4. Generates New Customers

Branding reaches into word-of-mouth advertising as well.

It enables your business to get more sales from referrals.

There are many advertising related studies, which show how word of mouth referrals are increased when your product has given a significant experience to your customers.

5. Boosts Employee Pride and Satisfaction

When your employees are aware of your established and respected brand, and they completely align with what your brand stands for, it can improve their job satisfaction and boost pride in their work resulting in lower staff turnover rates.

They will be enthusiastic to share information about their job and your brand with their friends and families and to recommend you. 

Establishing branding in your workplace can help strengthen your brand and the values it exemplifies.

6. Helps You Grow your Business

Branding not only helps in your physical appearance to your customers but it also has a significant influence on your sales.

A valuable brand helps to develop a profitable business.

Every business needs to adapt its business plan at least every three to five years, and a strong brand that can adjust to changing circumstance will survive the test of time and ensure success.

As said by Steve Forbes, “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.”

Benefits of Graphic Design in Branding

Easy Communication: words alone cannot communicate what a brand is about. 

Visual Representation: graphic design uses aesthetically appealing symbols and/or images, colours and typography to communicate the message a brand is trying to deliver, making it easier to identify with.

Company Focus: design helps in building a strong corporate identity, and creates consistency and coherence, thereby keeping a company focused on their mission.

Profitability: In marketing campaigns, design has a direct impact on profitability. For example, small changes in formatting and use of design elements can help deliver a better sales message and improve readership.

The positive impact of graphic design in branding and product marketing can never be over-emphasized. The bottom line is, for companies and products to stand the test of time and be remembered, the implementation of good graphic design in marketing is vital.

Final Thoughts on the Role of Branding

Branding is essentially your identity perceived by your customers.

Never underestimate its importance to your business.

Your brand can be a symbol of success, happiness, loyalty, comfort, quality, safety, vibrancy or any other values you represent.

Think about what message your company wants to convey. 

What do you want your customers to think about you?

What image of your company do you want to put out there?

That is the basic role of branding.

People will see you as one thing, and it should create a lasting memory.

I need help with my brand, whats the next step?

We can help!

The next step is simple.

It starts with a conversation. Drop me a line at [email protected] and let’s have a chat about your brand.

No hard sell, just a conversation and we can see how we can help create your brand to help your business. What have you got to lose?