21 Brand Style Guide Examples for Visual Inspiration Developing a consistent brand starts with creating a brand style guide. These branding rule books help graphic designers, marketers, web developers, community managers, and even product packaging departments all stay on the same page, and present a unified vision of the brand to the public. The best brands stick in our brains because their presence is defined by the repetition of the same logo, fonts, colors, and images. Once we see them enough, they become instantly recognizable, bringing us a clear sense of reliability and security. All of this is possible when each member of your team adheres to a cohesive brand style guide. In this article, we'll go over what brand guidelines are, the elements of a style guide, and some amazing examples of them in action to use as inspiration for your next branding project or website redesign. Picture the most recognizable brands you can think of. Chances are, you've learned to recognize them because of the consistency across the messaging — written or visual — these brands broadcast. The same brand colors are reflected across them. The language sounds familiar. It's all very organized and, while not rigid, it's cohesive. Here are a few types of guidelines you'd find in a brand style guide and which parts of a brand they can influence. Download our free resource on how to create your own style guide with brand guidelines templates to follow. Creating a consistent style...

Why Your Brand Needs A Strong Visual Identity Take a second to think about one of your favorite brands. A logo, storefront, color, or memorable ad campaign will likely pop into your mind. That's because a brand's visual identity is a powerful tool for telling a company's story, building customer affinity, and increasing revenue. If done effectively, visual identity can communicate a particular feeling or message without words. But a poorly-designed identity can confuse customers with lackluster messaging and disjointed graphics. So it's no surprise that consistent brands are 3.5x more likely to have strong brand visibility than inconsistent brands. Visual identity plays an essential role in branding, so it's important to understand what makes up an identity and how to create one. We'll cover all of that and share examples of successful brands that have developed a strong visual identity. What is a visual identity? A visual identity is the visible representation of a brand, from the logo and colors to the website and design of physical stores. It encompasses everything you can see in connection to a company. Visual identity can be made up of many elements: Graphics Animations, icons, buttons Typography Logo Color palette Imagery Store design Packaging Uniforms Flyers Brochures Billboards Digital and print ads Developing a strong visual identity comes with a number of benefits. It helps create an emotional connection with customers, which leads 57% of...

What Is Brand Perception? How to Measure It and 4 Examples If you take a second to think about your shopping habits, you'll probably realize that a majority of the products you buy are influenced by brand perception. You're not the only one — 77% of B2C consumers make purchasing decisions based solely on the brand name. Brand perception, or the thoughts and feelings associated with a company, impacts why people wear a certain brand of clothing or pick one pasta sauce over another at the grocery store. Once consumers adopt an attitude about a brand, it's tough to change. That's why brands work hard to create positive associations in people's minds, rather than negative or neutral perceptions. When you know how people perceive your brand, it's easier to shape its reputation, help consumers understand what sets it apart, and develop brand equity. You do this by measuring brand perception and tracking customer sentiment over time. But before diving into the metrics, it's important to understand what creates brand perception and how it informs company and consumer decision-making. What is brand perception? Brand perception is the sum of a consumer's feelings, experiences, and thoughts about a product or service. It's what people believe a brand represents, rather than what a brand says it represents. Although brand perception is a mental association, it plays an essential role in creating emotional connections with consumers. People consider their attitude toward brands when choosing between competing products. They read reviews, chat with customer...

What Are Brand Assets? 6 Examples to Inspire You All companies that want to attract customers and stand out against competitors need strong brand assets. These elements help build an identity, maintain consistency, and create trust. Considering that trust is the second most important factor in buying from a new brand, it's essential for companies to design brand assets that highlight their values, strengths, offerings, and identities. Brand assets let you create customer touchpoints that are immediately recognizable. Think of Amazon packaging, the Pixar lamp, or Apple's minimalist design. But branding assets aren't simply logos and slogans. They're the combination of several elements that come together to create a unique, distinguishable identity. If well-designed, brand assets can build brand awareness, increase marketing ROI, create customer loyalty, and give you a competitive edge in the market. Any company can develop distinct assets that draw in customers and increase sales conversations. To start, let's walk through the basics of brand assets before jumping into examples that show you how to leverage these essential branding elements. What are Brand Assets? Brand assets are recognizable elements that embody a company's identity. From logos and typography to taglines, brand assets make it easy to identify a business, help it stand out from competitors, and cue customer associations. Brand assets can include the following elements: Brand name Logo Color palette Packaging Slogans or taglines Songs or sounds Brand guidelines Mascots Typography Design elements Voice...

How to Develop Brand Architecture Just like every building needs a foundation, every business needs brand architecture. It's the structure that allows you to organize your offerings, develop a brand identity, and gain brand equity. The right brand architecture provides clarity around your products or services and influences how your brands and sub-brands relate to one another. Without this framework, there's no connection between your brand's offerings, messaging, and identity. This inconsistency can confuse consumers and dilute the overall value of the brand. (Think of it like walking through a building where every room has vastly different interior design). To ensure your brand architecture fits your business, this post will share the various brand architecture models, highlight real-life examples, and provide steps to choose the best structure for your company. What is brand architecture? Brand architecture is the organizational framework a company uses to structure its brands, sub-brands, and products or services. The framework helps define both the breadth and the depth of a brand, which makes it easier to develop marketing campaigns, identify growth opportunities, and ensure consumers understand the offerings. Image Source Companies use brand architecture to inform internal efforts. It acts as the foundation for the brand identity, style guide, and brand story, but it also helps increase efficiency by highlighting opportunities for cross-promotion, brand awareness, and mergers and acquisitions. Brand architecture isn't always obvious to consumers, who use it as a way to categorize the company and understand how it meets their needs. For example,...

What Are Brand Identity Elements? Branding is tough. It requires you to truly understand the message you want your business to convey to the world, and to understand your customers and what you want them to take away from your business. One of the key parts of branding is establishing brand elements, and, in this post, we’ll discuss what they are, and give examples that you can use for inspiration. Brand elements are essential because they help you develop a brand identity. Your brand identity dictates your business’ cohesive look, from how you communicate with customers, to editing style for your social media posts, the font you use in your YouTube video end screens — really everything. As they’re critical to business success, it’s essential to have brand elements for your business, and we’ll discuss each type below. Types of Brand Identity Elements 1. Brand Name A brand name is the words you use to identify your company and what you offer to the public, distinguishing you from your competitors. Coming up with a brand name may seem easy, but it can have huge connotations. For example, if you need to cover a scrape on your arm, you may say, “I need a Band-Aid.” The word Band-Aid is actually the name of a brand, while the actual product is an adhesive bandage. Yet, the general public usually says Band-Aid, using the name as a proper noun. Image Source 2. Logo Your business’ logo is vital to your branding as it...

The Ultimate Guide to Successfully Rebranding in 2020 When you're first starting a business, branding is likely the last thing on your mind. After all, it's hard to sit down and flip through fonts when you're still trying to figure out who your customers are (and where to find them). Plus, even if you made creating a brand identity a priority, in the beginning, a change in business plans might have made your initial branding strategy obsolete. Whether your branding design efforts started (and ended) with a logo jotted down on a napkin, or you whiteboarded your way through the complete branding process -- from brand values to logo variations -- somewhere along the way things stopped working. However you got here, you're not happy. Fortunately, rebranding is not uncommon -- many major brands, ranging from Dunkin' Donuts to Uber, have successfully rebranded in the past. If you're considering a rebrand, keep reading to learn how to rebrand a company, plus examples of other brands who've successfully rebranded their website, name, logo, or entire company mission, and purpose. Okay, now that we know what rebranding is, let's make sure you have the right reasons to rebrand. The Right (and Wrong) Reasons to Rebrand Rebrands are complicated and carry big risks. Even big brands aren't immune -- just look at Uber. After redesigning its logo, 44% of people were unsure of what Uber's logo represented.  Ultimately, knowing the risks of rebranding can help you determine whether or not you're...

What is Brand Salience? While branding can feel like a vague concept, it's one of the most important elements of a marketing strategy. Did you know that presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%? Plus, consistently presented brands are 3.5 times more likely to have excellent brand visibility than those with inconsistent branding. In fact, 82% of investors say name recognition is an important factor guiding them in their investment decisions. So, what does all this mean? Well, consistent branding leads to increased brand awareness which can then help gain investors and drive revenue to your business. Needless to say, branding is important for your business to succeed. In this post, let's review what brand salience is, how you can increase your brand visibility, and how to measure it. If you have high brand salience, then you have a strong brand presence that consumers recognize and think about when they need a product. If you have low brand salience, then consumers might not know your brand exists and therefore won't think of your brand when they need to make a purchase. Essentially, brand salience is a similar metric as brand awareness except it's focused on measuring awareness during the actual purchasing decision instead of overall brand visibility. For example, when someone wants to get a cup of coffee and is driving around, what's the first brand they think of? Probably Starbucks. When they want to buy tissues, they think of Kleenex....

The Beginner's Guide to Brand Pillars Although the practices of marketing and branding have been around for centuries, the industries started to shift in the 1990s. The digital age came about and companies began to market their brands more than their products with the goal of giving their company a personality. As a millennial born in the early 90s, I grew up at the same time as the digital revolution. In fact, millennials have a reputation for spending all day on their phones and being lazy. However, I'd argue that as the digital age and technology began to evolve, so did society's work expectations. Businesses, and even employees, are expected to be a brand in and of themselves that has value and positively impacts society (instead of just selling products). As a marketer or business owner, you might be wondering, "How can I create a brand that my audience connects with?" In this post, we'll discuss how to create brand pillars that clearly communicate your brand identity to your audience. For example, brand pillars can be core values, important strengths, or aspects of a brand that support or add dimension to the core idea of "Who are you?" Essentially, these brand pillars can be anything that your customers find important -- perhaps it's innovation, reliability, on-time delivery, etc. Brand pillars are meant to differentiate your brand and should be valued and endorsed by your customers. When someone asks why your customers like your brand, they'll probably be able to...

3 Ways to Leverage Brand Champions for Your Business In our personal lives, we all want people who champion us. If we're lucky, that will start with our family and extend to our friends and significant others. In an ideal work environment, our managers will also champion us and help us climb the ladder. There's nothing better than having people cheering for you on the sidelines and advocating for you in the rooms you're not in. As a business owner, you also want that level of support for your brand. That's where a brand champion comes in as someone who promotes your business and helps grow your loyalty base. Let's dive into why you need a brand champion, how to get one, and how to incorporate it into your marketing strategy. Depending on the size of your business, you may have one or several champions. Sometimes, that role is embedded in your staff's responsibilities. For instance, an employer brand specialist is responsible for promoting a company's culture and benefits to outside candidates. That, in itself, is a type of brand champion, as their role is centered around campaigning for your brand. You can say the same for brand ambassadors who partner with businesses to promote them and generate leads. A key difference to note here is that there is typically a contractual obligation for ambassadors to promote your brand. Champions may be incentivized to do so, but they're not required to celebrate your brand. In a small company,...