Salla, the Future of E-Commerce: An Easy Platform to Start Your Business

An Introduction to the Concept of Brand Identity 

It is common within business circles to believe that good products can promote themselves, while poor products require exhausting promotional efforts to succeed. Unfortunately, this is one of the widespread misconceptions regarding the concept of brand identity; because word-of-mouth marketing is no longer effective on its own as a tool for spreading a good reputation. This is where the role of creating distinct identities has emerged to build trust and foster loyalty. Perhaps another common mistake—concerning the field of brand identity—is the prevailing idea that identity is solely the logo and visual components of the brand, whereas it is much broader than that. It is the integrated mental image of the brand, which includes the visual vision that makes up only 30% of the identity, alongside the conceptual vision which covers 70% of the identity, and upon which the visual vision is based.

“Identity is in the minds of the people you interact with”

Brian Collins

In fact, the process of building identity is one of the genuine human practices throughout history across various cultural fabrics and social contexts, showing the personality, principles, and orientations of its owner. This makes it easy to communicate with them, understand them, and create spaces of cooperation between them and others, which makes the concept of brand identity a dual-effect tool; it is employed either for good or for evil. 

A Glance at the Timeline of Brand Identity   

Craftsmen, artists, goldsmiths, knights, warriors, and others used to sign their works for several reasons, including:

• Building renown.

• Instilling trust.

• Declaring loyalty to the land and the tribe.

• Distinguishing the name.

• Enhancing reputation.

• Showing ownership.

The history of the concept of brand identity actually began since the Industrial Revolution—between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—where it appeared in the form of brands with which livestock were branded to prove ownership. It then became a means to bridge the distance between the producer and the consumer. When quality levels became similar among goods, it became necessary to invent a point of difference to differentiate products on store shelves, and this included:

• Emotional persuasion.

• Advertising.

• Marketing.

• Building identity.

All of this is for a common and genuine goal concerned with guiding the feelings and thoughts of others towards you, which gives the brand a human persona in their minds; including its vision, mission, values, goals, language, and its strategy in execution, digital presence, communication, production, and cooperation with partners, and so on.

“A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It's not what you say it is. It's what they say it is.”

Marty Neumeier

One moment, please 

The role of identity is to reserve a seat for you in the front row of customers' minds and give you the edge over competitors. To win the round deservedly, you must be “known” sufficiently and satisfactorily in the minds of your audience, as they will check their mental archives before dealing with you. If what they know about you aligns with what suits them and what they aspire to, you will be the chosen one. They will believe that you are trustworthy, capable of fulfilling their hopes, providing the best solutions to their challenges, and satisfying their needs in harmony with their personal values and principles. Thus, you will win the bet and the competition round, which highlights the importance of clarifying the concept of brand identity.

Traits That Make Your Brand Identity Exceptional and Sustainable

1- Clearly Unique

How can your brand stand out from competitors without losing its unique spirit? The challenge always lies in how much you can be distinguished by fulfilling the aspirations of your audience and providing a unique market value, without trying to imitate more than one model at once, which makes the brand identity distorted, boring, and inauthentic.

2- Built on an Influential Cause

Accurately reaching the audience requires clarifying your goals and aspirations. Whenever you adopt a community or value-based cause, your brand becomes more human, drawing closer to the audience that shares the same values and goals regarding the concept of brand identity.

3- Has a Story to Tell

Give your brand a story that people can pass on, sympathize with, and connect to when building your brand identity strategy. Storytelling is an ancient human tool that has not lost its power to gather supporters, so use it wisely. Share your story about a special moment you experienced or a person who motivated you to take a step, so your brand ambassadors can spread it around the world.

4- Clear in Its Communication

Unless customers understand what you offer, you will not attract their attention. Honestly, it is not as easy as it seems; there are many brands, companies, and institutions for whom “clarity” remains an urgent challenge. Therefore, we advise you to ensure that the true value of your brand is made clear to your audience when building a brand strategy; which includes the concept of brand identity and what they gain from interacting with it in its genuine and unique form.

5- Vibrant

It is not a matter of dull or even colorful formalities; it is about breathing "spirit" into everything you offer, practice, publish, and communicate. Your identity is the unified spirit that reflects the principles you represent, in a steady and continuous flow.

6- Has a Distinct Name and Image

Be honest about your mental image, your name, and your brand identity concept. Let your identity translate your truth, making your inner personality harmonic with your external image, which stands out with uniqueness and distinction.

7- Realistic and Reliable

Your product and the service you provide define your mental image and the way others think about you and feel about you. Therefore, ensure you fulfill your promises related to your image and brand identity, without exaggeration or omission.

A Brand Identity is Built Like a Human Being

There are many commonalities between brands and humans regarding the concept of brand identity; both have an "inner core" that contains the traits, personality, beliefs, and desires they wish to achieve. This is expressed as (Identity): how you look, what you say, and how you say it. This, in turn, is reflected in your interaction with the outside world and how others see you and feel about you. It includes the texts you publish, the events you organize or take part in, in addition to the acquaintances you surround yourself and ally with. It even extends to what you do and "what you don't do"; because all these signals that people pick up from around you through your external appearance form your mental image in their heads and help them form an opinion about what is going on in the inner core.

“What you want is to have a core that guides you, a personality that makes you known, and interactions that create a relationship between you and your audience.”

Anne Miltenburg

Components of a Strong Brand Identity

Brand Core | The foundation on which you build your identity.

Brand Personality | The face and voice of your identity.

Brand Interactions | Your way of communicating and expressing it.

Brand Core | Brand Core

It is the actual starting point and the main reason for the existence of your identity, which is formulated in the simplest and most influential and persuasive linguistic structure because it will remain attached to your brand. The core includes: the vision, mission, and values, and aims to set standards that help you make the right decision for your direction.

   Brand Identity | Brand Identity

The apparent personality is a living expression of the core, both in language and appearance, so that your manifestations and principles are aligned, making you trustworthy, desirable, memorable, dynamic, and human. It includes the main foundations by which you express yourself in texts and images, such as: the logo, font type and size, colors, content strategy, and the overall style. This aims to bridge your inner characteristics with your outer details, creating a face and a voice of ultimate uniqueness that represent you in particular among millions of competitors.

Brand Interactions | Brand Interactions

Brand interactions occur with strategic guidance that starts with a precise understanding of the audience (customers), their interests, what they actually need, where they are, and the benefit you want to stand out with and offer them. This includes communication in both its aspects (internal and external), platforms, venues, products and services, partnerships, and collaborations, which in turn aim to direct people's thoughts toward you through the brand's interaction with them. Here is the most important strategy to design a professional online store.

Finally | Your brand is a story waiting to be told efficiently so that people understand you the way you want, as benefits the core of your identity. So, are you ready?