What does “brand identity” or “corporate identity” mean? Your brand identity is essentially is the “personality” of your business. It encompasses your corporate look, the style in which you write and present your client communications and your company’s philosophy in dealing with customers.

However, in the end your success in establishing your brand identity is measured by how your clients perceive you. You must be committed to developing a brand identity that will be maintained consistently across all aspects of your business. For example, you might have a nice logo and pretty brochure, but if your client service team doesn’t hold itself to the same high standard in dealing with clients, your customers might not view you as the professional, high-end company you want to be.

So how do you establish a strong brand identity?

Do-it-yourself

• Write out your company philosophy and make sure each employee knows it and lives by it. While you’re at it, let your clients know what your philosophy is too by incorporating it in your website and other company materials.
  
  
• Review the standard communications your team sends out to clients and prospects, including emails, letters and even telephone scripts. Are they all conveying the consistent message you would like?
  
  
• Establish guidelines for all official company communications. This may include standard text or format, specific fonts and colors, and usage of the same logo. Make it easy for employees to know what they need to do by documenting it, providing common templates and posting approved logos in various formats.

Professional

• If you don’t have a logo, or feel that the logo you have is outdated or doesn’t really represent the company you are, logo design is the best place to start. Your logo will become the single most important factor in ensuring that your published materials have a cohesive look and feel. See also Services | Design or Portfolio | Identity.
  
  
• Once you’ve designed a logo and defined your corporate colors and fonts, put them into consistent use throughout your “corporate identity system”: your letterhead, envelopes, labels, even your employees’ email signatures. See also See also Services | Design or Portfolio | Identity.
  
  
• Make sure your corporate identity is conveyed through all of your sales materials, including brochures, signs, postcards and sales presentations. See also Services | Design or Portfolio | Print.
  
  
• Build credibility with your website. Having a professional website will go far in impressing on clients and prospects that you are an established business and an expert in your field. See also Services | Web or Portfolio | Web & Email.

Expert

• Advertise your business through the most effective channels for reaching your specific customer audience. This could include magazine ads, billboards, TV and radio commercials, or online banner ad campaigns. Because the direct impact of advertising on your bottom-line is often difficult to measure, look at most advertising expenditures as an investment in solidifying your brand image to your client base and for building awareness of your name in your industry. See also Services | Marketing or Portfolio | Print.

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