So, your brand already has a visual identity. Awesome! A color palette, logo, and heaps of Pinterest boards are all well and good, but remember: your brand isn’t only comprised of a look. Your brand should be an experience that is indistinguishable from your product or service.
The words you write for your Instagram captions, how you name your packages, and how you conduct yourself via email … all of these things shape the overall tone of your brand.
Think about Prime (formerly Amazon Prime).
Their service is so famous they’ve done away with a tagline altogether. They know you know what they do. Prime’s branding is to-the-point. Their marketing materials all bear some form of that calming blue hue (known as “Prime blue”). Their social media captions are equally minimal – making the occasional joke, posting a meme here and there, and dropping names of famous friends some lucky staff members supposedly get to hang out with at SXSW. (Is Prime really even at the festival? We may never know.)
Let’s compare Prime’s character to Free People’s.
When you visit the Free People homepage, you’re not only greeted with soft visuals, but headers that read “easy does it”, “dresses: float on”, “endlessly effortless”, and “a softer approach to outfitting”. Even if you can’t view the images, you’ll still get a feel for Free People’s bohemian, breezy, feminine tone.
Your brand can be visually flawless, but if your copy doesn’t complement your visuals, your brand will feel disjointed.
Take some time to develop the whole character of your brand.
When my clients fill out their client questionnaire, I always have them come up with a list of keywords and terms they feel describe their brand. It’s a wonderful exercise to revisit at least once a year, or whenever you are considering a change!
Don’t overlook the impact language has on developing a memorable brand!
