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Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Some brands just have the “it” factor. Apple’s got it. Coca-Cola’s got it. So do Nike, Harley Davidson and IKEA. Each of these brands are each distinctive, and their reputations precede them. In short, they’ve got great brand equity. But what is brand equity, really? And how do you create it? In this blog, we’ll help define this slippery concept and provide tips for strengthening your business’s brand equity. Looking to grow your brand online? Create a website with Wix and put your best foot forward. What is brand equity? Brand equity is a marketing term that defines a brand’s value to its customers. It measures how much influence your branding has over its customers or in an industry. In other words, if your brand has strong (or “positive”) equity, it is memorable, easily recognizable and appreciated by consumers. “When we look at the most successful brands on Wix, we see that the more they actively put their brand in front of customers, the greater their long-term influence,” says Yaya Aaronsohn, head of brand maker at Wix. “By using various promotional methods and tools—such as Wix’s tools for email marketing, social engagement and others—they’re able to keep their brand top of mind. This type of brand awareness (check out our guide on how to increase brand awareness ), coupled with good customer experiences, ultimately creates brand equity.” What makes brand equity so important? Aside from improving your reputation, strong brand equity increases your sales, improves ROI and builds your customer base. Here are some of the specific benefits that come as a result of positive brand equity: You can charge more with positive brand equity. Think of high-end fashion designers who are able to sell items like clothes, shoes or purses for a high markup compared to average retail brands. Customers will seek out your brand instead of competitors. This will help your company increase its market share, as more and more customers are set on purchasing items specifically from your brand. Think of Apple, for example. If you’ve gotten used to an iPhone and are a loyal Apple client, when the time comes to purchase a new phone, you’re most likely to return to Apple. Positive brand equity saves you money on advertising. Once your brand is well-known and carries a good reputation, you might not need to spend as much money on ads, since many clients are already tuned-in and engaged with your brand. How to measure brand equity: 3 essential steps While you’re going through the process of building up your brand equity, it’s important to measure your success along the way to get a good overall view of what’s working and what’s not. But tracking brand equity can be tricky. After all, it’s a concept rather than a concrete product or asset. It’s based on a feeling that a brand inspires. So, while there are multiple metrics that can express the effects of brand equity on your business’ performance, there’s no single metric to use. Instead, use a combination of measurement techniques to build an accurate picture of how you’re doing. Gather your brand data sources Choose a multi-dimensional measurement strategy Monitor, adjust, repeat 01. Gather your brand data sources As you embark on the quest to capture a picture of your brand equity, two primary types of information are at your disposal: Financial/Operational data: “O data” (“O” for “operational”) involves traditional performance metrics that relate to tangible activities, such as revenue generation, repeat purchases or even employee retention. O data depicts the ways brand equity manifests itself in concrete results. Emotional data: Emotional data (a.k.a. “X data,” with the “X” standing for “experience”) are qualitative measurements that attempt to capture consumers’ emotions and beliefs about your brand. X data can be collected through social listening, surveys, focus groups and more. Note: You may be less familiar with X data, but it’s an increasingly-critical piece of the brand equity puzzle. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for superior customer experiences, according to PwC , so measuring the overall effect of brand interactions throughout the customer lifecycle can reveal new insights about preferences and loyalty. Once you’ve identified the data you already have and any gaps in visibility into customer behavior, you could potentially institute new processes to develop a more holistic picture. For example, you may need to establish new ways to collect user feedback in order to build your X data, or you may need to adjust O data reporting to ensure consistency over time. Shameless plug: you can also use Wix Analytics to monitor user behavior on your site, investigating everything from top traffic sources, purchases and most-viewed content. 02. Choose a multi-dimensional measurement strategy As you collect and sift through data, aim for a balance between economic and experiential information. Select an array of metrics from both categories of data to build a comprehensive and composite picture of brand equity. Specifically: Balance historic data with immediate sentiment. While O data can reveal a trend line, understanding the customer motivation behind the numbers reveals a truer picture. For example, rising average order values may seem like a positive sign, but if those figures are paired with decreasing customer satisfaction, then customers may actually be disgruntled over higher prices or expensive accessories. Identify enduring signals amidst the noise. Experimenting with new sources of X data can yield a lot of brand chatter, including momentary spikes in popularity or attention. Marrying these inputs with the O data that quantifies business impact helps determine what’s meaningful. Going viral on TikTok may signal growing engagement from Gen Z customers—or, conversely, show a well-executed hashtag challenge that results in zero sales. 03. Monitor, adjust, repeat Once you’ve assembled the right selection of brand equity metrics for your brand, track them regularly to build a picture of performance over time. While you may want to make adjustments, especially at first—consistent methods and timing is crucial for building an accurate picture of brand health. Once you’ve established a dashboard and feel confident with the results, consider adding or integrating new data points to round out your understanding of brand equity. 5 types of brand equity metrics (and tips for tracking them) Brand equity has five core dimensions to measure, each of which you can quantify in a variety of ways. However, don’t be afraid to skip the data points that aren’t relevant or that you can’t reliably track. It’s better to hone in on a few meaningful metrics than to face a deluge of incomprehensible raw data. 01. Brand awareness metrics First, you’ll want to check if you’ve succeeded in creating brand awareness . In other words, how do you know if you’re top-of-mind with the right audience? There are a few ways you can do this, and your method might depend on the products or services you offer. To measure brand awareness, you’ll want to look at metrics like: Traffic to your website or to stores: Track the number of people who interact directly with your brand and establish a baseline count to monitor how certain campaigns impact traffic. Search volume for terms related to your business: Is your brand recognition strong enough that consumers search for you by name, or are they looking for generic categories of products or services you offer? Social listening: Monitor mentions of your brand as well as relevant hashtags, competitor content and industry topics. Media or news coverage: Setting up a simple and free Google Alert can surface mentions of your brand in traditional news articles and blogs. Sentiment analysis: Sentiment analysis extracts meaning from otherwise generic text—and increasingly, AI is able to be “trained” to recognize the difference between “customer service is killing me” and “customer service is killing it.” Voice recognition and transcription tools can also help you apply sentiment analysis to customer service calls and video reviews. Customer reviews: Track both the quality and quantity of reviews; even if you don’t earn five stars on every product, a customer’s willingness to return to your website to leave a review can show that they care enough to share their opinion. Customer satisfaction: Survey consumers about their interactions with customer service, tech support and store personnel and seek feedback about processes, such as product customization and returns. Surveys: Request survey feedback from customers, plus engage consumers who don’t currently buy from you to understand their priorities and perceptions of brands within your category. Internal employee surveys can also be invaluable tools to gauge whether staff members who represent your brand are aligned with its mission. Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS poses a simple question: would customers recommend your business to others? Their response speaks volumes about the strength of your brand. Gain further insights into the reasoning behind the scores with follow-up surveys and customer panels. 02. Financial metrics You’re probably the most curious about how improving your brand equity has impacted your profits. While a simple check of your bank account can tell you how the business is faring at any given moment, the ability to produce solid cumulative results indicates that your brand is building strength over time. There are a few ways you can measure your success in this area: Profitability: Generating revenue is one thing, but the extent to which you exceed your costs can signify that your brand has value in the marketplace for which customers are willing to pay a premium. Rate of revenue growth: Is your company growing consistently? Income rising at a higher rate each year indicates momentum and positive brand equity. Customer lifetime value (CLV): This is the average total spent per customer over the course of their relationship with your brand. If customers return more frequently or spend increasing amounts with you over time, then your brand equity strategy is likely working. Customer acquisition costs: How much you spend to find and convert new buyers can be an indicator of brand equity. If your business has a strong word-of-mouth reputation, you likely need less advertising to lure first-time customers. Customer retention costs: Investments in loyalty and customer service initiatives should be consistent over time. Sudden, significant growth in retention costs is a sign of flagging brand equity. If customers need huge incentives to keep coming back, reexamine their expectations and your follow-through. Channel partner engagement: If you work with dealers or resellers, their success rate is an indicator of brand equity. Willingness to participate in promotions and incentive programs signals a belief that your brand is an asset to their business. 03. Brand evaluation metrics What price should you assign the nebulous concept of "brand value"? Evaluation metrics help you do just that, and range from cost-based metrics (that reflect how much you invest into creating your brand) to market-based metrics (that show the value of your brand in the marketplace). There are also Income-based metrics, which reflect the earning power of your brand as expressed through potential income connected directly to your brand identity. You can cover each of these by tracking: Historical cost (cost-based): Tally how much you’ve spent on advertising, promotions, licensing, and other start-up costs. Replacement cost (cost-based): This is an estimate of how much you’d need to spend to launch your brand today in the current marketplace to achieve the same results you’ve already built. Conversion cost (cost-based): This calculates how much you need to spend to create enough brand awareness to generate your current level of sales. Comparable metrics (market-based): These metrics reference acquisitions and sales of other companies in the sector to indicate the potential value of your brand. Equity valuation (market-based): This captures the revenue-building and cost-saving capabilities of your brand. Advertising ROI indicates earning power, while the cost savings are based on your brand’s economies of scale and existing audience. The more you’re able to do with less investment, the stronger your brand equity. Residual metrics (market-based): Residual metrics reflect earnings that continue to accrue once the cost of your assets has already been accounted for. A positive balance reflects strong brand equity. Royalty relief (income-based): This is the amount your company would pay in trademark fees to use the brand if you didn’t own it. Excess earnings (income-based): This reflects the income earned over and above the costs of working capital and physical assets. The remainder indicates the value of intangible assets such as your brand. 04. Output Metrics Output metrics measure how marketing activities perform and, by extension, whether brand messaging is resonating with your audience. By tracking engagement with campaigns and promotions, you gain a deeper understanding of how customers and followers perceive your brand. Here are output metrics that you can use to figure out if your marketing is on point: Click-through-rate: When consumers click on ads or messaging, they’re communicating which brand attributes resonate. Heat-mapping on your website: Track which zones of web pages attract the most attention to understand which elements are most engaging. Video engagement: Analyzing watch time indicates whether viewers are engaging with your content, or just clicking and moving on. Social media engagement: Go beyond tracking likes and follows to get a deeper understanding of which activities resonate. Check out comments, reposts and creation of hashtagged content. Downloads: Consumers who download your app intend to stay in touch with your brand. Growth in app usage is a signal of growing brand awareness and strengthening brand equity. Email marketing engagement: Signups can help you gauge intent to create an ongoing connection with your brand, while views, clicks and conversions indicate whether subscribers find campaigns relevant. Your churn rate sends another important signal; are consumers unsubscribing after receiving a discount or other reward for signing up, or do they truly want to engage with your brand? Loyalty program participation: How often are your customers taking advantage of your loyalty points and services? Participation frequency can reflect overall engagement with your brand. Support of brand causes: Engagement with social or environmental campaigns your brand supports indicates whether your audience aligns with your stances. Trusting your brand’s guidance on civic participation signals you’ve built a relationship that goes beyond business. New product revenue: Track performance of new products carefully to understand the impact of your brand equity on the bottom line. Pre-orders and waiting list signups from your existing audience indicate trust that your brand will deliver on promises. 05. Competitive Metrics Competitive metrics help identify areas in which you’re outperforming other companies in your category as well as gaps in competitor offerings that represent opportunities for your brand. You can track what’s working well in your own campaigns while monitoring competitors’ activities to understand what resonates with your audience. Here are some metrics that’ll help you figure out how you measure up: Market share: Understand the total potential market for your brand and identify which competitors are vying to capture the same audience. Use tools such as customer surveys to understand which other brands are on buyers’ minds, compare sales figures (if accessible) and track media coverage or online buzz. Marketing activities: Depending on what information is publicly available, you may be able to compare return on investment on marketing channels. Use tools to track trending search terms and hashtag campaigns. Price premium: If you successfully offer items at higher prices compared with other companies in the category, that premium can be an indicator of strong brand equity. So, how can you build brand equity? Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your brand equity won’t grow instantly either. Building brand equity is a process that requires time and consistency. Start with the basics of building your brand from scratch and grow from there through marketing efforts and investments in the customer experience. Whether you’re just starting to build brand equity or want to strengthen your position, focus on these priorities. Embody an authentic mission Customers will be more loyal to a company that has a reason for existing beyond selling products. By positioning your brand as a solution to a problem or challenge, you elevate your purpose and forge a connection with customers who can identify with the need you address. “One of my favorite examples of this is TOMS,” says Aaronsohn. “TOMS wasn’t simply built to sell shoes, but to promote a good cause. Their ‘One for One’ model demonstrates that the company is ready to put their money where their mouth is—and to date, they’ve successfully donated more than 100 million pairs of shoes with the help of their customers. TOMS’ mission is just as well known as their products.” These days, customers increasingly expect brands to take stands; 63% say they buy or recommend brands based on their values, according to Edelman . However, for a stance to be credible, it needs to align with your true beliefs, and be reflected in both your products and company initiatives. Patagonia is another well-known leader in cause marketing. The company’s products are geared towards surfers, climbers and people who are environmentally conscious. In alignment with its audience and its founding ethos, Patagonia has boldly fought to protect a national monument, promoted the reuse and refurbishment of their products and pledged all of its profits to fighting climate change. Patagonia’s brand identity inspires loyalty from fully 73% of customers, Statista calculated . Create cohesive messaging Any ad or piece of content that your brand puts out are opportunities to cement your brand image . For example, if your mission is to save shoppers money, then discount-focused content is appropriate (think of Walmart’s catchy slogan “Save Money. Live Better.”) Your voice and aesthetic should likewise align with your core purpose consistently across channels to reinforce your singular offering. Periodically check execution with a top-to-bottom brand audit. Is there continuity from your internal brand values to external brand messaging? Take a holistic view that includes: Branded advertising campaigns: Create cohesive ads with an evergreen message that helps create a compelling brand story . Rather than focus on specific products or sales events, use these branded campaigns to showcase the central storyline and distinctive voice that mark your brand identity . Social media : While consumers expect social media to be more casual and authentic than a slick branded ad, you should still focus on your core messaging and employ your unique brand voice. Offline experiences: Store signage and shelf talkers should reflect branding as much as your online presence does. Packaging for online orders and printed brochures should all reflect your brand. Offer a positive customer experience The customer experience is central to perception of your brand, so to build brand equity, deliver high-quality, consistent interactions across channels. Think beyond the customer service department to include: Ease of use when it comes to fulfillment processes such as store pickup or initiating a product return Accessible and honest customer reviews Responsiveness on social media, which 63% of consumers expect brands to offer as a customer service channel, according to Microsoft Personalization in the form of consultative sales support, such as personal shopping services The customer experience is so important that leading companies have made it their central mission. Zappos.com famously claims to be “a service company” that “happens to sell shoes” and more. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos claimed to be “obsessive-compulsive” about serving customers, and six customer service tenets guide decisions company wide, HubSpot reported . Reward brand loyalty Not only is keeping customers less expensive than finding new ones, but repeat buyers are more likely to become the advocates that help your brand equity grow. Invest in building long-term relationships with your customers through a meaningful rewards program that encourages repeat purchases or interactions with your brand. Above and beyond points, give loyal customers special treatment by: Asking their opinion: Consider creating an audience or customer panel to consult when developing new products or services. Providing input on the direction of the business gives engaged customers more of a stake in your success. Awarding early access: Saving a spot at the head of the line for loyalists when it comes to sought-after new products or seasonal favorites is a perk that costs you nothing but builds appreciation for your brand. Personalizing rewards: Don’t offer generic gift prizes based on points offered; instead, consider picks tailored to loyal buyers’ individual preferences, or a meaningful discount they can apply however they like. Rewarding referrals: Loyal customers are your best word-of-mouth marketers, so be sure to reward them for any new business they bring to your brand. The Starbucks Rewards program is a perfect example of how a brand rewards customer loyalty, and one of the reasons Starbucks has undeniably built up its positive brand equity. By offering clients free products and personalized suggestions based on their preferences, Starbucks is able to keep its customers coming back for more instead of taking their business to a competitor. Members drove 53% of all U.S. company revenue in 2022, according to PYMNTS.com . Start your own rewards program with Wix Loyalty Program , which supports various types of rewards and tiers.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Have you ever wondered why Pfizer sponsors the Oscars? Or why companies like Coca-Cola still spend millions of dollars on ad campaigns despite being one of the most famous products in the world? The answer is brand awareness. In today’s competitive market, strong brand awareness can help a business’s communications stand out amid a bombardment of advertising. Whereas in the past, traditional advertising and marketing efforts worked fine enough, customers have shifted their priorities. Brands have to innovate and meet their audience in the right way, at the right time. As Dazed Media’s 2031 A Future World Report finds, “Now that anyone can be a brand, the lines have blurred. The masses hold the real power, and traditional brands are struggling to control the narrative they once had the monopoly on.” With this in mind, more businesses of all sizes want to strategically approach their target audience, engage them with the right tools and create enough returning customers to build a recognizable, consistent brand. This guide will give you practical insight into how you can increase your brand awareness. Start with the basics, like designing a website, developing your brand’s social media presence or perfecting your logo design . We’ll cover the following: What is brand awareness? Why is brand awareness important? How to build brand awareness How to increase brand awareness How to measure brand awareness Brand awareness examples What is brand awareness? Brand awareness is a broad term that refers to how familiar your target audience is with your brand. Brand awareness kicks off the customer journey through the brand funnel and touches all five parts: awareness, consideration, preference, action and loyalty. Many companies strive to make their brand name synonymous with the products or services they offer and stay top-of-mind for current or potential customers. Brand awareness is a long game, but one that increases your brand’s visibility and memorability in ways other marketing cannot. Strategically using your brand colors , logo design or catchy slogan can amplify your brand message and keep you top of mind when consumers make decisions. McDonald’s golden arches or Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan both exemplify long-running brand awareness campaigns. These small brand elements cause most people to crave a burger or contemplate whether they need a new pair of sneakers. Why is brand awareness important? Strong brand awareness means more people are familiar with your business—an important step towards becoming the go-to in your field. But building brand recognition goes beyond attracting customers and increasing trust in your products or services. The main advantages of increasing your brand awareness include: Bringing in first-time customers: New customers will often try products they recognize over an unknown brand. In fact, 59% of shoppers prefer to buy new products from the brands they trust. And since brand awareness is considered the initial stage of the marketing funnel, you can think of it like a wide net which is cast across a sea of potential buyers. Once you hook them, it guides them through the funnel, towards the buying decision and ultimately, results in brand loyalty. Gain credibility: Building your credibility can positively affect consumer decisions. If you’ve established brand trust, your brand is likely to have a greater impact on audiences in order to gain influence on issues related to your business or industry. People connect more to brands that have a purpose, fostering even more customer loyalty and brand equity . As RazorFish finds, this notion has intensified since the pandemic, which has changed the way people think about brands and their missions and values. As Nicolas Chidiac, brand strategy lead at Razorfish, shares: “Most brands have jumped on the purpose bandwagon, but few actively drive it forward. We’re at the peak of purpose washing, and it’s imperative that brands not only clearly communicate their purpose, but authentically put it into practice in everything they do. Brands are beyond the ‘why’ and are struggling with the ‘how’ to follow through and tie purpose to performance.” Charge more for products and services: Recognition as a trustworthy brand helps loyal customers and potential shoppers pick you over the competition. With many businesses solely operating online, trust is worth more than ever. You can—and should—charge more for peace of mind. Attract high quality employees and partners: As you build your brand recognition, more people will jump at the chance to work with you. This means you’ll attract higher quality employees and partner with bigger, more-respected businesses. Expand your business: A brand’s recognition and respectability carries over from the initial product or service you provide to what your business does in the future. When you want to expand into new markets or introduce new products—greater brand awareness will help you transition, since you'll already have a pool of customers who trust you. How to build brand awareness You can’t achieve brand awareness with a one-off project. The process includes several campaigns, social media activity, collaborations and more. Let’s start with the basics of building a brand and asserting your presence and relevance. Take note of these foundational practices when you build your brand recognition: Develop your brand identity These days, customers want to interact with a brand they can connect with on an emotional or intellectual level just like they would a person—brands that have vibrant personalities, ethical values, a sense of humor and a specific tone of voice. Choose a brand archetype and develop your brand identity to find this voice, personality and story. With so many options out there, shoppers choose to buy products from businesses that reflect their values. So don’t hesitate to highlight your social, economical or environmental ideals. Customers have also realized their purchases can change the world. People feel strongly about these issues and you can tap into that emotion. Be authentic on and offline As a McKinsey report found, 42% of millennials and Gen Z consumers cited purpose as the primary factor in changing brands. For example, these consumers based their decision on whether a company shares their values and if they treat their employees well. Authenticity sets the foundation for honest communication and helps both current and prospective customers build emotional connections to your brand. Highlight your brand purpose’s upfront to show both internal and external stakeholders what your brand believes in and values. Be active on social media After creating your brand’s identity, get your message out to the public. In the past, brands used billboards, magazine ads and TV commercials to communicate with audiences, but today most interactions happen online. We especially interact with brands on social media, where close to half of the world’s population spends an average of over 2 hours a day . People now expect brands to use social media. Most customers will even go so far as to look up your business and contact you on your social media channels, rather than through your website, email or phone. Unlike other media outlets, social media embodies a more casual environment, which makes it a great place to use your authentic brand voice. People will come to your accounts to interact with your brand. Use social channels such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok to broadcast your brand’s personality (your choice depends on your market, of course). Take the time to post new content, create social media graphics , interact with other brands and engage your audience. Customers expect a timely response when reaching out on social media, so actively respond as soon as possible. Create fresh content According to Marketing Interactive , most Gen Z and Millennial consumers find digital customer experiences even more important than in-person experiences when building trusted brand relationships. The goal with building brand awareness is to generate a buzz around your brand, so give your audience new content that will entice them to engage and share with their friends. Creating content that audiences will share achieves two goals: It brings more attention to your brand by spreading it to a wider audience and also promotes positive recognition. In the future, audiences will likely interact with a brand with familiar content than an unknown business. How to increase brand awareness Now that you understand the foundations of brand awareness, let’s look at how to increase brand awareness . Remember, whichever method you choose, always meet your audience in their most-frequented spaces and use language that speaks to them. This will lead to more authentic communication in every context. Produce interesting videos Design infographics Make memes Create a blog Collaborate with other brands Use influencer marketing Sponsorships Start a podcast or curate a playlist Offer free products or services Use referral programs Increase traffic to your website using SEO Create personalized email and social media campaigns Leverage story telling Try NFTs 01. Produce interesting videos Videos make for great, shareable content across all platforms. You can add videos to your website and post them to your social media channels, too. Many brands will also start a YouTube channel as an outlet for brand awareness campaigns. Some ideas for video content include: tutorials, breaking down different trends, or hosting panel discussions about topics related to your business. Tip: Use the Wix video maker to craft relevant and engaging video content. Try a mix of long- and short- form content to see what your audience connects with. 02. Design infographics Infographics can both tell a story and provide on-brand visuals in an easily shareable format. Your audience will likely share content with appealing infographic colors on social media, increasing your brand awareness. Don’t forget to design it using your brand’s aesthetic and visual identity —and of course, slap on your logo to show ownership. 03. Make memes Memes are no longer only for internet trolls and college students. You can now use this legitimate marketing tool to your branding advantage. For the most part, memes bring across a short, funny or witty message. They have the potential to go viral, but don’t require a large design budget. 04. Create a blog Creating a blog can add to your brand awareness, foster trust and provide shareable content all in one package. Blog posts are a digital marketing staple—in fact, blogs are one of the few outlets for long-form marketing content. It gives your brand a chance to share expertise, curate thought leadership and meaningfully make your mark. When writing a blog post, keep in mind that interesting, informative articles perform the best. Many successful brands consistently add new content to their website’s blog. If you properly invest in your blog, your customers will come to see it as a knowledge source—potentially even one that impacts their purchasing decisions. 05. Collaborate with other brands Collaborations between brands who share similar (or even differing) audiences can double the exposure of both businesses. If your shared audiences hold both brands in high-regard, you can both increase your customer base. A co-branding collab can come in many forms, such as social media sharing swaps, co-produced videos, or guest posting on each other’s blogs. 06. Use influencer marketing Influencer marketing is a middle ground between collaborations and paid ads. It associates your brand with someone who has a well-liked reputation and established audience on social media. Working with influencers can boost engagement for brands. According to Retail Touchpoints , “That’s because it’s the “every day” influencers—creators who are making content as a side hustle rather than as a full-time job — who are able to truly, deeply engage with consumers.” Influencer partnerships will vary according to established platform and price—but once you find one that you want to work with, you’ve unlocked a great opportunity to boost your brand awareness. 07. Sponsorships You can increase your brand’s awareness through sponsorship, or providing a service, product or financial support in return for advertisement and exposure. Your brand can sponsor anything from food or alcohol for an event, or individuals such as artists or athletes. Finding these opportunities means strategically planning what audiences you want to associate with and what sponsorships make sense. For example, if you’ve started your own beer brewery—find an upcoming music event that needs beverage donations. Not only will the artists or organizers include you in advertising, but everyone at the event can also enjoy and talk about your product. 08. Start a podcast or curate a playlist Dazed Media research “nods to the idea that brands could evolve into human entities, with one in three adults under the age of 35 (33%) feeling more favorable towards brands with a sonic identity.” Starting a podcast can provide engaging, long form-content and shape your sonic branding approach. Many brands already use podcast platforms to provide a steady stream of episodes catered specifically to their audience. It can take time to build up a following–but once you have an audience, a podcast will have a huge influence on your brand's authority and recognition. Take a look at Wix’s podcast Ready For Takeoff . This curated podcast highlights a range of topics focused on hypergrowth, highlighting insight from the leaders who built the company. This podcast allows Wix to share expertise from building a successful business in a new, relevant and engaging form. You can also create a playlist on popular music streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple Music. Music’s expressive quality can help to create a brand experience—whether playing inside a brick and mortar store or part of an online experience. 09. Offer free products or services Everyone loves free stuff. You can use the tried-and-true giveaway promotion method to increase your customer base. Give out small branded products like pens, coasters or hats, or even provide a free service or trial for a limited time. This will not only delight recipients, but can also cause them to share the opportunity with friends. Plus, the gesture can turn them all into loyal customers. Social media provides a great way to expose your product or get the attention of prospective customers. Plan your goal of the giveaway—do you want to generate more engagement, increase followers or expose your brand to new audiences? Plan your giveaway and make it clear to your audience what they stand to win. Use hashtags to help identity entries and increase shares. 10. Use referral programs Ask existing customers to reach new ones for you. Most satisfied customers will spread the word about your business—especially if you offer them an incentive. If you can afford it, offer your customers discounts, provide premium services or give free products in return for recommending new clients. 11. Increase traffic to your website using SEO Your website is an important asset for brand awareness, too. Make sure your site is professional, aesthetically-pleasing and aligned with your brand style guide . Invest time in SEO (search engine optimization) to increase traffic to your website. With good SEO, your site can work its way to the top of Google’s search results for relevant topics. You can also invest in ad campaigns that draw more traffic to your website and build your brand awareness. 12. Create personalized email and social media campaigns Authentically engaging with your audience can create an emotional connection with an otherwise “faceless” entity. After you’ve established an initial connection, you must nurture it. You can do this through tailored social media and email marketing campaigns for specific consumers. Tip: With Wix, you can create personalized emails using a range of easy-to-adapt templates and create images for social media . This will empower you to consistently and meaningfully communicate with your existing customers. 13. Leverage story telling According to Forbes contributor Hugo Lesser, emotional triggers and connections are key for storytelling in branding. He writes, “While purchase motivation often has a functional aspect, in that we all need to purchase certain things, a decision about exactly what we purchase—which brand or product we choose—is often based on an emotional impulse (i.e., a feeling).” Understand what motivates your particular customers to purchase. This will help you build and share the right story that resonates with your audience. 14. Try NFTs Staying ahead of the curve is half the battle of beating your competition. NFTs will go beyond the buzzword and become a critical part of branding, showcasing audio, video, 3D design and more. They provide a creative, one-of-a-kind experience that puts brands on the cutting edge. In addition, they can help shape the aspect of storytelling through immersive experiences. How to measure brand awareness Brand awareness campaigns are long-term endeavors, with results often seen after years. This is why marketers consider them less measurable than other campaigns, like lead generation or traffic building. But that doesn’t mean you can’t gauge the efficiency of your efforts. You can measure brand awareness and your campaign’s success with these four methods: Measure website traffic The traffic your site gets can help you understand the effectiveness of your brand awareness campaign. Tools like Google Analytics will allow you to check the pages related to your brand building campaigns and track their performance. You can also see from where visitors arrive and gauge which platforms bring in the best results. Track social engagement These days, many brand awareness campaigns happen on social media. Luckily, most social media platforms provide analytics, as well. Track the number of likes, shares and comments your posts receive over time to monitor engagement. Take note of increases in your follower count and how specific posts perform. You also should proactively listen and respond to social media users who post about your page, products and business. User surveys Survey your customer base to get valuable, direct feedback on your brand. You can run the same survey over time to see how your brand’s recognition changes. You may want to survey before and after running a campaign to accurately measure success. Google your brand Google your brand to see what people think of your company. This can bring up unseen news articles, forum discussions and social media posts that reflect how the “real world” views your brand. Whether these posts are positive or negative, they provide valuable information that can help change your customer approach. Brand awareness examples Let these successful brand awareness campaigns inspire you: Beyond Meat Beyond Meat is the most searched vegan company on Google , and 70% of U.S. meat substitutes users are aware of the brand. Launched in 2009 by Ethan Brown, the LA-based brand gained momentum around 2014 after they developed their first simulated beef product and expanded their presence in stores, including Walmart. Since then, they’ve influenced other vegan brands and, of course, partnered with Kim Kardashian to put the brand on the map, bringing a new pool of prospective customers who would otherwise never try plant-based “meat.” In fact, this is precisely what sets Beyond Meat apart from many other competitors and other plant-based products. From the start, Beyond Meat marketed themselves to both meat eaters and non-meat eaters alike, believing that their product would be appealing even to the typical meat eater. What’s more, Beyond Meat changed the game with their labeling by avoiding the word vegan altogether and fought for strategic product placement within the meat section of grocery stores. This simple move enabled the brand to gain awareness from a different range of consumers and an expansion of their “typical” target market. Spotify Ranked as one of the top 10 brands for Gen Z , Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with 345 million users and counting. From its inception, the music streaming platform understood its target audience and did everything in its power to engage and resonate with them. This includes everything from their visual identity and tone to their product’s availability and accessibility. They strategically developed a cross-platform mobile application for all users. After their initial success, Spotify has worked effectively to capture new users and delight their existing ones. Perhaps one of their most successful efforts is Wrapped, a viral marketing campaign that the company releases at every year’s end. It offers users a compilation of their most listened to songs and a breakdown of their preferences and musical identity. This campaign smartly taps into the notion of personalization, inviting their users to feel a part of something and proudly share their recap on their social media feeds. This not only creates brand awareness but drives a sense of missing out for those not using the music platform. What started as a humble effort to share data is the exact “snapshot [that] propelled Spotify into an intersection of tech, music and culture,” reports Variety . In addition to Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” which curates personalized playlists for existing subscribers based on their preferences, the streaming platform has nailed the concept of personalization. Inspired by Iceland After Mark Zuckerberg announced the Meta rebrand, public-private tourism entity Inspired by Iceland found the perfect opportunity to promote themselves while poking fun at the newly rebranded company. This clever and creative video ad put Iceland on the map, bringing attention to the Nordic Island nation in a new and exciting way. In the light of COVID-19 and travel restrictions, tourism has had to innovate more than ever before. And this ad did just the trick to draw attention and bring about brand awareness. The ad plays true to life, with the video host and chief visionary officer (CVO) of the Icelandverse sharing a striking resemblance to Zuckerberg, down to his name, manner of speaking and even his haircut. The release of the video was also cleverly in sync with the media buzz surrounding the rebrand of Facebook to Meta, which enabled Iceland to ride the momentum. Iceland’s video received plenty of attention on YouTube and Twitter, successfully achieving their goal to bring attention to the destination. Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation and Spinneys Middle Eastern supermarket chain Spinneys collaborated with the Lebanese Cancer Foundation to create a campaign focusing on the importance of self-administered breast exams. Religion-based personal status laws prohibit Lebanese women from speaking openly about their bodies, so the brands created a respectful video to speak about the important subject, using bread as an analogy. Showcasing traditional Lebanese baker Um Ali, the video shows a “bread exam,” complete with the motions and gestures of self-breast examinations, but mindfully avoids any direct mention of breasts. Not only does this campaign bring awareness to both Spinneys and the Lebanese Cancer Foundation, it brings awareness to the importance of women’s health and creates a “secret” or a sense of “in the know.”

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → “Branding is the art and science of influencing perception about a product, service or organization,” says Sean Tambagahan, CEO of Butler Branding. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. And while branding is an essential component of any marketing strategy, there are distinct differences between how to brand professional services and product businesses. Professional services refer to any company whose product is a service, such as law, architecture or event planning. If your business falls into this category and you are looking for some insight into how to maximize your brand’s potential, you’ve come to the right place. No matter what your business or field, all aspects of marketing need to encompass your brand, from creating your own logo to building an effective social media strategy. This is true across both your business and personal branding efforts. Here’s what you need to know to get started. Professional services branding vs. product branding While there is most definitely overlap, the key difference between these types of branding is that service quality takes significantly more time to evaluate than product quality. When a customer purchases a tangible item, they can evaluate immediately upon purchasing how it performs. For instance, if someone has just bought new headphones, a single use can determine their sound quality and fit. A service, on the other hand, may not have such immediate results. For example, when someone hires a lawyer, they may not see the outcome of their work for weeks or months, even though they pay for their services ahead of time. Therefore, unlike product branding , professional services branding requires less emphasis on visual and auditory cues, such as brand colors and jingles, and more on establishing a long-term, positive brand reputation . And that is what a solid service branding strategy can do. The importance of reputation management This is the crux of professional services branding. Once your company has established itself as a reputable business, the rest of your marketing efforts will run much more efficiently. As a service business, you have the opportunity to deeply connect with your customers because you provide a service that they cannot (or don’t want to) complete themselves. The quality of your service is mostly evaluated based on clients' experiences working with you. For this reason, it’s important to go above and beyond and get to know them on a personal level. This relationship will help build trust as well as establish your reputation as an industry leader. Once customers see that you’re the best in the business, they’ll start to correlate your brand with the service you provide. This is why a good reputation is so valuable for service branding. 5 key strategies for professional services branding These strategies will help you build and nurture your reputation to help maximize your service branding potential: Establish your brand identity Before you can begin developing your marketing strategy, you’ll need to establish a well-formed brand identity . While you may have already perfected your service, you won’t get too far without establishing the who and why behind your brand. People choose specific brands not only because of the product or service it sells, but because of the feeling and emotions it evokes. And that’s exactly what your brand identity is. If your brand could speak, what voice would you give it? Corporate branding or personal branding ? What do you stand for and what are your core values? These are just some of the questions you’ll need to answer. To solidify your brand identity, begin by writing down your brand story. Think about why you started your company in the first place and how you can use your backstory to relate to consumers on a personal level. From there, you can complete the rest of your assets, from website design including background gradients , to your logo and tagline. While you may offer an amazing service, your brand identity is what’s going to sell it. Invest in content marketing Providing valuable, educational content to your customers is a strategic way to promote your business. Content marketing is a more indirect way to build your brand's credibility because it isn’t a blunt sales or marketing tactic. It allows you to connect with your clients on a more personal level that will also help establish your business as a true thought leader. Whether you create a blog , offer e-books, whitepapers or webinars, content marketing accomplishes three main objectives that will generate leads and convert new clients: Builds trust between your business and target market Engages your audience and offers an opportunity for open communication Demonstrates a strong understanding of your industry, helping to establish a positive reputation For B2C companies, in particular, this can be highly advantageous. For example, if an accounting firm is looking for a law firm to represent it, they may decide to forgo the bidding process and choose one based on reputation alone. Content marketing is a key strategy to accomplishing this. Establish your brand as a thought leader Being a thought leader implies that your brand is an authority in your field. It means that you do things differently to achieve the best possible results and are viewed by others as an expert. True thought leaders have the potential to create trends and set industry standards. While content marketing is an essential component of thought leadership, there are other tactics that are worth mentioning as well. Consider hiring leading experts or partnering with well-known companies to dramatically increase the reputation of your brand. The halo effect will work in your favor, meaning that once customers hear a certain individual is working with or for your firm, they’ll view the entire business in a positive light. On top of that, industry experts will also employ their knowledge and skill sets to truly advance your company and improve its services. Ethical work standards, including social responsibility and sustainability, combined with transparency of business operations are also two key components to creating thought leadership. Both can help set an example for other companies in your field by shedding light on your company values. They also convey that your business is about more than just raking in revenue. By treating your employees and other stakeholders with respect, you can help create new industry standards, a large component of establishing your brand as a thought leader. Take advantage of social media While a social media presence is an essential part of any online branding strategy, it’s important to reiterate its importance for service businesses. Social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, are excellent tools for organic growth that allow you to create valuable content that not only engages your target market, but helps mold your brand. Whatever channel you use, incorporate all aspects of your branding, from your logo and colors to your tone of voice, into your social media content. By doing so, you’ll create a powerful, cohesive brand that customers will associate with your service. To start, create a business account on your chosen platform and upload your company logo as your profile picture. When filling in your profile information, make sure to include your company slogan and your website. Make sure to align every post with your company branding and include content that offer value to your followers. Consider Ask your followers questions, postuseful facts and tips, and hold competitions to promote dialogue and drive engagement. For example, a cleaning service could create a video post with tips and tricks for getting out spaghetti sauce stains along with a tutorial of how to do it. This type of content is useful, engaging and relatable, and will be sure to grab people’s attention. Learn how to save your images in PNG  or compact JPEG  in seconds. Manage online reviews Because reputation management is so important for service business branding, it’s highly beneficial to take advantage of online reviews. Today, people select all kinds of services, from lawyers and accountants to pet sitters, based on reviews they see online. In fact, 63.6% of consumers say they are likely to check reviews on Google before making a purchase. Company owners can set up business profiles on platforms like Google My Business and Yelp. Then, customers have the opportunity to leave comments and reviews and owners can even reply. It’s an ideal way to build your brand and reputation. Because 20% of consume rs expect to receive a response from a company within one day of writing a review, vigilantly monitor this section and be sure to thank customers for their business. You could even repost them on social media as user-generated content. This is a great way to market your service business, show customer appreciation and grow your brand so others can find you in the future.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation and someone says, ‘just do it,’ and the first thing that jumps to your mind is a picture of a basketball player making an impressive dunk? Or is just reading the words ‘Coca-Cola’ all it takes for you to conjure up the brand’s famous red-and-white label? Even if you’ve never bought a pair of Nike sneakers, or don’t regularly drink Coke, we bet you probably still had some sort of immediate emotional response to reading about the signature symbols of each of these products. Maybe it was equating strength with the Nike swoosh, or the feeling of refreshing coolness with a cold Coca-Cola bottle in the summer. That right there is the power of association – otherwise known as product branding at its finest. Successful product branding is about using your product’s physical design and promotion to tell a cohesive story about what your product is, and how it’s different from similar models on the market. An eye-catching logo , an eCommerce website that dazzles, entertaining packaging, a memorable tagline – these are all essential marketing tools, yet it’s the way you use all of these physical design elements together to create a consistent brand identity and feel for your product that will set it apart from competitors. The good news? Your marketing budget doesn’t need to contain as many zeroes as the brands above in order to be effective. (You hear that sound? That was your wallet sighing in relief.) Read on for our guide on how to brand a product so that it wins the hearts and minds of potential customers: Know your brand identity Before you can start spinning your product’s narrative into an advertising campaign, you have to have its story down cold. So set aside a date night to spend some quality time with your product. Light some candles, cook a fancy dinner… and start asking some questions to really get to know it. You know, standard date questions, like: 1. What is your product’s purpose? What need does it fill in the market? Play around with crafting a mission statement specifically for your product. Do the classic elevator pitch test: If you had thirty seconds between floors to explain your product to a stranger, how would you break it down in the most concise, yet enthusiastic, language possible? Once you have this down, you can strut out into the lobby feeling like a champ. 2. Who is your product’s target audience? Why them and not anyone else? Do you need corporate branding or personal branding ? Imagine you’ve stumbled across the social media account of a sample member from this group. Start assembling a character profile based on the kinds of information you would generally expect to find on their page: age, educational and professional background, place of residence, causes and groups that they support, relationship status, and what they do for fun. Make sure you’re able to connect the dots about why each part of their biography positions them to be a prime customer for your product. 3. What core beliefs does this demographic hold? How would you characterize their lifestyle? All successful types of branding happen when you align the values you communicate through your product with the stated values of your potential buyers. If your target base is big on environmental causes, for example, emphasize the post-consumer recycled content of the cardboard you use for your delivery boxes. Are you catering to music lovers who were at college in the 90s? Drop references to hit songs in your social media promotions. 4. Do similar products already exist on the market? What do people love (and hate) about them? And what makes yours different? Competitor research is essential for staying up to date with how other players in the field are speaking about their products. ‘Follow’ your competitors’ social media channels, subscribe to their newsletters, read their product reviews online – and take notes. This information will help you carve out a niche for your own product to shine, also known as your ‘edge.’ This is the excuse you give to a browsing shopper to select your product over the other guy’s, whether due to some advanced feature you offer, or the message you’re selling along with the physical item. Whatever it is that differentiates you from the rest of the pack, act like you’re Simba on Pride Rock and tell it to the world. All very romantic stuff, we know. Your answers to these questions will then guide any design and marketing decision you’ll have to make down the road. Tearing your hair out over whether to go with the mint green packaging or the bold red color? That’s when you pull out your notes and consult them like they’re a magic ball that holds your future. Refreshing your memory with your answers should help you return to the basics of what your product stands for and who your audience is – and your packaging color should flow naturally from there. Keeping your product’s purpose and an image of your target demographic front-and-center in your mind will ensure all of your resulting branding remains consistent and speaks exactly to the people you’re hoping will become your reliable consumers. Tell your story to the world Now that you have the fundamentals down of what your product is, the value it adds to the market, and who you intend to use it, you can start getting into storyteller mode. Your product story will probably sound quite different from the fairy tales of your childhood, but the goal of evoking a specific emotional response should remain the same. The following steps will walk you through how to translate your product’s identity into every component of its physical branding in order to produce a cohesive narrative. Once upon a time… 1. Select a color scheme. Before you can start designing any marketing materials, from a logo to promotional flyer ideas , you’re going to want to put on your artist’s smock and pick out the right brand colors . These colors will become a visual signal for all things connected to your product, so make sure to do your research and use color psychology to evoke the exact emotional feel you’re going for. 2. Choose your fonts. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. That goes for writing, too. Your typography choice plays two powerful roles in communicating your story. First, it literally makes your marketing materials possible to read. For instance, when you’re designing your website, sans serif fonts are the easiest on the eyes when displayed on a screen. And while we understand how browsing through all the delicious fonts in the Wix Editor is a bit like walking into an ice cream shop, we’re going to have to cut you off at a firm three flavors tops. Any more and it will interfere with viewers ability to visually digest all of your hard work. Finally, your fonts are yet another method you can use to stay in line with your product’s tone. 3. Create a logo. No offense to your initial monogrammed backpack from elementary school, but that won’t cut it as a logo in the product branding world. A good logo is a synthesis of stunning aesthetics and relevant messaging. For example, you know that golden arrow running underneath the word ‘Amazon?’ Besides keeping things clean and simple design-wise, the arrow connects the letters ‘A’ and ‘Z,’ reinforcing the message that the web retailer sells literally everything under the sun. We get it, though. You just came here to develop an app or sell a natural cleaning product, not to suddenly find yourself shadowing as a graphic designer by night. No sweat, that’s why we launched a logo maker that will simplify your life. If you know the name of your brand (we certainly hope so), your industry (ditto), and some adjectives that describe your brand’s feel, then you’re all set to go and take advantage of all this tool has to offer. Based on your answers, this wizard-like feature will present you with a range of personalized options to choose from. After you pick your favorite, you can then customize it with your business’ unique color palette and typography and then start sticking it everywhere in sight. Business cards, your social media profile pictures, on the product itself, a screen printed t-shirt, a banner flown across town by a blimp… Why not? It’s your very own logo – we’ll let you decide where the limit is. 4. Design a website. Create a website to show off your gorgeous logo and products. You’re building a home for your product, which means using its selected color palette for all of the interior decoration, and continuing to keep your target audience and brand personality in mind with every feature you add or line that you write. In addition to opening an online store to ring up those actual sales, there are so many features – like a captivating “About Me” section, a free blog , or an FAQ page – that you can use to introduce site visitors to the story of your product. Make sure to avoid brand identity confusion by purchasing your domain name , so you don’t accidentally send potential customers’ business the way of that other stationary company whose owner has the same initials… Did someone say awkward? Learn more: How to make a banner   Maintaining a consistent product identity You’ve probably already gotten a sense of this step at this point (how many times can we tell you to use the same colors for everything related to your product?), but we’ll say it one last time: consistency is the absolute key to outstanding product branding. Once you’ve determined your product identity, and then translated it into design elements like a color palette and a logo, you’ll want to stick to this plan so that the second customers see this imagery, they instantaneously think of your product. In addition to these more visual indicators, there are more ways you can signal to your target audience that your product is in the house: 1. Make a product style guide. Trust us, this manual will become the holy grail of your product. You won’t have to put in as much sweat as Indiana Jones did in order to get it in your hands – although it is definitely worth investing some time in. Essentially, your style guide is the compilation of all of the signature design details you have to chosen to accompany your product. Any time you’re typing up a press release or designing a cover photo for your product’s Facebook page, this should be your first reference to consult. Behind every consistently branded product is a thoroughly thought-out style guide. This resource should include, at minimum: Size and placement guidelines to ensure your logo will be used consistently across all of your marketing materials. Signature fonts and typography, with instructions on which styles are reserved for website blog posts versus printed materials, for example. The details of your color palette, especially if you’re pulling a Picasso and looking to use variations of your palette depending on the occasion. Standards for any images used in association with your product, including size, resolution, and any other specification you feel is necessary for guaranteeing your product’s feel is captured. Definition of your product’s ‘voice,’ drawing upon your answers to the questions in section one, and even what adjectives you chose while building your logo. What are the keywords you want customers to associate with your product that should appear regularly in your promotions? What is the overall vibe you want to radiate every time a customer clicks on your website or reads an email from you, and what words will convey that feeling? 2. Bringing your product voice into customer engagement. The thing about consistency is that it never gets a break – even (especially!) when it comes to customer support interactions. If you are selling a water bottle that prides itself on its sleek, minimalist design, yet your customer support is a multi-step process, it can detract from the powerful image you worked so hard to build for your brand. And, of course, no matter your product’s personality, your willingness to go the extra mile for customers will leave a lasting impression, and could mean the difference between a browsing shopper and a returning customer (who also posts raving reviews of the boutique soaps they bought from you on Instagram). When Ferris Bueller said, ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while,’ who knew he could also have been talking about product branding? With the market constantly evolving, it’s worth revisiting your questions from section one once in a while. Check in to make sure you have a pulse on the latest trends amongst your target market and that your product is still in alignment with their wants and needs. You might find that it’s time for a logo design update after a few years, but at the end of the day, sticking to your story (barring any major directional shifts in your company or product) will show customers that you’re still ‘you’ even behind those design makeovers. Reflect that identity in all aspects of your marketing , and you can consider your product successfully branded.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Chanel, Nike, Coca-Cola and Wix. What comes to mind when you hear these names? Parisian couture, athletes, soft drink and a free website builder . That’s because they are all strong brands, backed by solid corporate branding. Guided by a clear purpose and mission, these successful companies are able to articulate and communicate who they are in the most impactful and memorable way. The same elements will help build the foundation of your corporate branding and in turn, the effectiveness of its promotional efforts, helping tap into new markets and stand out against the competition. In this article we’ll talk about the steps it takes to build a corporate brand. What is corporate branding Corporate branding is the act of promoting the brand name of a business across all marketing and communication efforts. For instance, instead of advancing a specific product or service brand in your next ad, if you want to strengthen your corporate branding, you can shine the spotlight on your strong brand alone. The success of this practice can depend on whether you have a solid brand identity and brand name behind you. Once you possess both, you’ll gain an advantage over your competitors since existing and potential customers are more likely to form an emotional connection to your business, whether it's invoked in an ad, logo or company goods. Why is corporate branding important With a strong brand direction, you’ll be able to increase brand awareness and the recognizability of your company along the way. Consider this fun anecdote: Most of us regularly used the phrase “Pass the Kleenex, please” without hesitation. Over time, the tissue brand has been understood by the public as a broad classification of goods thanks to its distinguishable identity. In a recent TV commercial, America’s popular tissue company interchanges the word tissue with Kleenex. And it works. For all the tickles and little sniffles. Kleenex. Three-layers strong for all the moments. Difference between a corporate brand and logo As you work on your branding strategy, there is an important distinction you must know about your corporate brand and logo. A brand is the culmination of every touchpoint your customers have with your company, from print ads and commercial spots to product packaging, web design, logos and even celebrity endorsements. That said, this type of branding has shown that it can also go far beyond the product or service. On the other hand, a logo, albeit powerfully effective, is simply one piece of your brand. It’s a visual mark that’s been adapted by a company to help audiences dentity it. For example, while we are all triggered by the sight of Apple’s bitten “forbidden fruit” logo, our real feelings toward the brand are actually inspired by much more: past experiences with commercials, media coverage of long lines on an iPhone launch day or a first-hand encounter with the product. It’s these emotional memories tied to the mark that actually make associations happen. How to build a corporate brand In order to build a brand that is powerful, you must be consistent with your brand messaging , logo design, including background design , and anything else you do as a business. But how do you come up with a company brand that’s meant to stick around for more than a trend cycle? To help turn your business into a strong brand, we’ve defined some fundamental steps of the corporate branding process. Evaluate your existing brand Define what your company stands for Boost your brand's visibility Write guidelines for implementing your corporate brand 01. Evaluate your existing brand You may already have an existing brand, but it’s not working out. Either your brand is targeting the wrong audience or not getting the attention it deserves. This is the time to evaluate the achievements and shortcomings of your current brand strategy and improve your plan so that it may guide you in the right direction. Ask yourself whether you need to add, tweak or change something altogether in your brand’s messaging, look and identity. You can even perform a SWOT analysis to review the brands of your competitors, as well as yourself. With these five steps 1) analyze strengths 2) analyze weakness 3) analyze opportunities 4) analyze threats and 5) draw conclusions, you’ll be able to assess your brand and whether it will be successful within your target market and competitive industry. 02. Define what your company stands for In the same way that a yoga business would not associate itself with inattentiveness, your company needs to make an appropriate pledge to its audience. Those promises are determined by the definition of who your company is, what it does and why it does it. I recommend that you outline your company’s mission, values and goals so that staff and stakeholders alike understand exactly what the business stands for. Start leading discussions that will get everyone on the same page about your brand. You can create visuals, like graphs or charts, or use mnemonic devices that will help breakdown the information into delightful and memorable content. Say your company values include loyalty, accountability and transparency. You can simply combine the first letter of each word into a new word, like tap, for effectiveness. This level of clarity ensures that everything being done in the name of the company adheres to a fixed philosophy. You can also turn this into a company or product branding guide . 03. Boost your brand’s visibility You’ve created a logo that communicates the who, what and why of your brand—and it’s designed to distinguish you from the rest. Now that your brand is accompanied by an effective logo, you can begin placing it on your marketing assets, such as social media, your website, packaging design and other marketing materials. Once you get your logo out there, more people will recognize it and put your brand in the limelight. These days, one of the most popular ways to increase your visibility is by implementing a social media marketing strategy. You’ll need to first know who your target audience is. This will enable you to decide on where you should focus your promotion—Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to name a few. Keep in mind that each social media platform offers different ways for communicating, engaging and building relationships with one another. Once you establish the right platform for promoting your brand, you’ll need to draw up some general rules that will protect your reputation and corporate image. Most businesses have a social media director whose specific responsibilities include being the “social media gatekeeper” and formulating regulations that keep anything relating to your corporate branding synced. This will also ensure consistency throughout the history and growth of your brand. 04. Write guidelines for implementing your corporate brand Allow me to be a bit dramatic, but I believe that planning saves lives. In regard to your brand, you should develop a guide that considers an array of scenarios in which your business will be represented—whether that’s online or off. For instance, we’ve mentioned a couple of ways to increase your brand’s visibility in the previous section. But that requires a follow-up question, “How do you make sure your marketing team or staff have the tools to see the plan through?” By creating a brand style guide , or set of rules, for the implementation of your corporate brand identity, you’ll be able to enforce uniformity and conservation now and in the future. From ranging font sizes and typography to where to place your logo and how, everyone involved in marketing your company will maintain your brand’s integrity with the right guidelines.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → We’ve all Googled ourselves, right? If you haven't, there is no time like the present to quickly search your name and see what comes up—or doesn’t. Whether you’re applying for jobs or colleges, or trying to make a name for yourself as a business owner or freelancer, your reputation and your image matter. A lot. When establishing a name for yourself, it’s all about ‘talking the talk and walking the walk.’ In other words, how you hold yourself, how you speak, and how you dress are all major factors that influence the way others will perceive you, both on and offline. And this is precisely where personal branding comes into play. From crafting your logo design , to building up your online presence, every step cultivates the persona you project. Below, we’ll show you just how to create a personal brand that will leave a lasting impression you can be proud of. What is personal branding? Personal branding is nearly synonymous with your reputation. It is the appearance you display in your life towards the people in it, and the impact this has, both inside and outside your career. No matter where you see yourself on the professional scale—a student, job candidate, employee, business owner or freelancer—personal branding is crucial. It includes your skills, job qualifications, personality, and everything else that makes you, you. Yes, it matters how you dress and speak, but in today's world it's equally important to pay attention to how you appear online. This can be anything from removing unprofessional tagged photos of yourself and maintaining your social media accounts, to creating a free website that cleverly puts all your essential information in one convenient place. Just like branding for products or services, personal branding is all about taking control of how others perceive you. It's important to note that personal branding is more than simply marketing or selling yourself, it is about putting your best foot forward in the most authentic way possible. it's very much about building a brand personality that represents yours. Thinking beyond the external image you portray to others, and fully personifying your genuine self inside and out. To quote author, researcher and iconic TED speaker Brené Brown , authenticity is “a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.” With this in mind, you must suit your actions to your words and make sure your personal brand is accurately representative of who you are and what you’re capable of. History of personal branding While the evolution of personal branding can never be attributed to one person or source its origins can be traced back to Tom Peters in his 1997 article 'The Brand Called You,' first published in the Fast Company. He developed this further with his 2001 book, The Brand You 50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an "Employee" into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, with his concept of 'Brand You.' This was then built upon again in 1999 with Be Your Own Brand , first published by marketers David McNally and Karl Speak. However as early as 1981 in their book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind , Al Ries and Jack Trout , introduced the idea of using positioning strategy to advance your own professional career in what could be considered the pre personal branding days. Benefits of personal branding: As a personal brand, you’ll develop your own unique brand identity . People will come to know you for what it is that you’re really about, and get to see the whole package. The best part about all of this is that it comes with many benefits for you: Become more relatable. In other words, become more ‘human’ and less ‘markety’ by revealing more about yourself, unlike with corporate branding . This also helps build trust and authenticity. Establish a brand identity. Personal branding will ensure that people know what to come to you for, and that they will be able to rely on you for specific things. It will also allow you later to figure out your brand extension strategy . Get more opportunities. With a strong personal brand, you will most likely be exposed to more interviews, job offers, promotions, contacts, clients, event hosting gigs and more. Differentiate yourself. Building a brand allows you to show off unique characteristics about yourself that set you apart from others in your area of specialization. In much the same way that a product branding guide would do this for a business, you can create a personal branding guide for yourself. Enhance your expertise: The more exposure you get, the more your network expands and those who you interact with will start to identify you as an expert in your field. They will reach out to you for your opinion and expertise, which only further supports your personal brand. Leave a lasting impression: An unforgettable personal brand will stick out in people’s minds, so when it comes time to give referrals or recommendations, they’ll think of you first. How to create your personal brand: Get to know yourself better List your education and work experiences Hone in on a goal Know your target audience Develop your story Find your unique selling proposition Build your credibility Create a website Get active on social media Design a logo Get a branded email address Stay consistent 01. Get to know yourself better There are a few different ways that you can evaluate your own professional persona, both from the inside and how the world perceives you: Learn your strengths: Figure out what it is that you’re good at in order to allow yourself to become an effective leader, communicate better, and find personal empowerment. To do so, you can ask ten people that know you dearly from all walks of your life what your top three strengths are, and then choose the most common answers. You can also take a personality and strengths test such as the famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , or opt for a free VIA Character Strengths Assessment . Focus on your passions and interests: Just as important as your strengths are the fulfilling activities in your life. That’s because if you do something from your heart, you’re more likely to do it with motivation and energy, and others will certainly notice that. Establish your values: Values are your core, they are what you stand behind, no matter what. These are the things that you won’t budge on, as they are most important to you and the way that you live your life. When your values are positive, people will feel more connected to you. Even more, when you clearly outline what matters to you, it will trickle down to every interaction you have, and keep your personal brand aligned. Find your inspiration: Do you have someone that you look up to? If so, think about how you can focus your brand to emulate theirs. This doesn’t mean you should copy what they do, but rather take advice from them. What made them successful? Why do you want to learn from them? What do you want to learn from them? While answering these questions, be genuine and honest with who you are, rather than striving for something too far from your personal truth. 02. List your education and work experiences Make a record of all of your life experiences relevant to your professional career and interests, from education at school and training programs to work and hobbies. Plus, creating this list will help you focus on what to speak about with the relevant parties (jobs, clients, etc.), as well as what to include on your resume, social media, website, and other content-based projects. It will also serve as evidence to back up your skills and strengths, as mentioned above. Lastly, it will serve as a reminder to yourself to take a look at all that you’ve accomplished thus far in your career. 03. Hone in on a goal What do you hope to achieve in one year? In five years? In ten years? Having a realistic focus in mind will help you establish a clear vision for your brand that not only you will understand, but also everyone else in contact with you. This way, when you speak about yourself or others speak about you, you will be known for this vision and people will remember you because of it. If you’re not sure what your vision is, use your experiences, passions, and strengths to come up with something. You can also take a career or purpose-related test, such as IKIGAI. IKIGAI is a Japanese concept for finding your purpose or ‘reason for being.’ You’ll fill in ‘what you love,’ ‘what the world needs,’ ‘what you can be paid for,’ and ‘what you’re good at.’ Then, blend them together and discover your purpose. 04. Know your target audience Here’s how you can define your target audience: They are the people offering opportunities in the field you specialize in They should be reasonable for you to reach There are enough of them requesting the kind of work that you offer You’ll be able to earn a living out of having them as clients After you’ve envisioned your target audience, find a way to talk to them and start a professional relationship. When you get their attention, have a readily planned prompt of what you want to communicate. You should be able to explain how your skills can be beneficial for them. This is finally the moment to start acting on your vision, so make sure you do so with professionalism, confidence, and charisma. 05. Develop your story Like any good brand story, you want to use all the information you’ve gathered until now (your strengths, passions, interests, target audience) and define your own unique narrative. Nobody has the same experiences or perspectives as you, meaning your story is just yours to tell. This doesn’t mean exaggerating or embellishing details for the sake of a good tale, but finding a way to honestly express who you are, and what you’re all about. Make it something you can remember and share over and over again, from conversations to the content on your website. This will ultimately set the tone of your personal brand. 06. Find your unique selling proposition Any type of branding has a unique selling proposition (USP), or something that makes them stand out against their competitors. It refers to their biggest strength, or their one defining quality that sets them apart. When it comes to personal branding, the same idea rings true. Now that you’ve taken the steps to recognize your strengths, goals and audience, it is time to pinpoint exactly what you have to offer that nobody else does. As Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” Channeling your inner quirkiness or eccentricities is precisely what sets you apart, so don’t be afraid to show them off. You can craft a personal branding statement that includes your USP, which can be used on your website, your social channels, in interviews and can even serve as your elevator pitch. It instantly let’s people know who you are and what you’re all about. 07. Build your credibility Establishing yourself professionally is something that requires regular work and attention. You’ll need to stay active in your community—both online and offline. Here are a few suggestions of ways to get yourself noticed: Network via events and other community-based organizations. Mentor others less experienced in the industry. Seek a mentor of your own to receive guidance. Volunteer as a guest speaker for relevant events. Work on projects with others in your area of specialization. Host your own professional events (happy hours, Q&As, speaker series, etc.). Join and actively participate in organizations and communities. When choosing what to focus on, pick activities that you are truly passionate about. Not only do you want to actually enjoy the process, but authenticity is easily spotted. 08. Create a website A printed resume is certainly one powerful sheet of paper meant to describe your professional personality, experiences, skills, and accomplishments. Yet, the online version does all of this and more. By creating an online resume , you can add many features that you wouldn’t be able to on paper. Furthermore, you can customize your site to your liking, and keep everything organized in one place. If you’re exploring personal website ideas , this is the perfect place to start. For inspiration to get you started on yours, take a look at these polished CV website templates , including examples for a large variety of popular professions, such as business-oriented, students, graphic designers and more. Be inspired by these gestalt principles too. Make sure that your website includes a detailed personal bio about yourself and all your contact information. You should also be sure to showcase any publications, presentations, certifications or important projects that help convey your skill set and your personality. If you have any speaking engagements or video content, you can also use a video maker to highlight your public speaking skills directly on your site. To take your website a step further, you can create a free blog and regularly add relevant and interesting content. A blog can be a huge boost for your SEO, and a chance to show off your expertise and voice. And if you are looking to gain press coverage, you can add a press kit to your website. No matter what you do, keep in mind that in the digital world, it’s more than a goal to be impressive, it’s a requirement. Get inspired: Health and wellness websites examples Coaching website examples 09. Get active on social media Social media is an important place to market yourself and grow your personal branding initiatives, as well as a recommended promotional strategy to drive traffic to your website. There are many places where you can present yourself: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, or Pinterest, start a YouTube channel, write for Medium, and more. You don’t need to be active on all of them, though. Since you’re just one person, that can be quite overwhelming and, in turn, highly ineffective. Start with the most popular and relevant channels for your field of expertise, then if you have the time you can also work on other niche channels that serve your interests best (video-focused, design-focused, etc.). In general, these are the channels we recommend pushing your efforts towards: LinkedIn is suggested for every personal brand, as it’s essentially a resume without a page limit. You can also connect with other professionals and companies, network in groups and with individuals, and share updates. Instagram is a constantly growing hub to focus on the visual aspects of your brand, and is not just limited to images, it also includes videos and reels, especially since Instagram says they are “no more a photo-sharing app” . Instagram Stories and Reels allow you to regularly update your followers on your life. And then Instagram posts are a great place to share permanent content to your profile and feed. Within your posts, include popular Instagram hashtags to reach more followers and get more engagement to your content. Facebook is still one of the most popular social media channels. It’s full of many opportunities, from creating a Facebook business page or promotion campaigns, to joining relevant groups. It’s essentially an online phone book with a multitude of other resources. Think about it: When you want to find out more information about someone (what they look like, what they do, who they are friends with, etc.) where do you turn? Probably Facebook. TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform in the world and a great opportunity for personal branding. The 15-second to 1-minute videos are easy to digest, relatable and fun. According to this report , 62% of TikTok users are aged between 10 and 29 years old, so if this is your target demographic, this might be the right social channel for you. Just remember that videos can go viral, even if you have limited followers, so always put your best foot forward and share content that you would be comfortable with future colleagues or employers watching. The other channels that you might consider are YouTube (for videos), Medium (for articles), Twitter (for short-form content), and Pinterest (for creative ideas and designs). When it comes to these channels, it’s very dependent on your niche specialty in personal branding. In other words, not everyone will find value in being present on these platforms. In addition, arguably one of the most important aspects of this social platform is your bio, a coveted piece of social media real estate which describes your brand, including the option to link to your website. Keep this in mind for each platform. Pro tip: You can use a link in bio tool like Hopp by Wix in order to direct users to your website and other social media channels all from one designated URL. For your inspiration, check out our social channels at Wix: LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram , YouTube , Medium , Twitter , and Pinterest . 10. Design a logo A logo is a visual mark of your brand. Like your face, it’s a symbol that everyone will associate with you and your work. From your personal website to social media channels, business cards or resume, your logo can be used in every context. Don’t have one? No problem. In just a few short steps, you can create your own logo to represent your personal brand. After answering a few questions about your brand, you’ll be presented with choices and then given the ability to customize your favorite option to your liking. Simply download your high-quality image files and use them across your branding assets, both online and offline. 11. Get a branded email address Sadly, an unprofessional email address is a major problem for 35% of employers . When communicating with clients, prospective employers, mentors and mentees, and other individuals in your professional life, you want to give off the most impressive appearance possible. For that to happen, a custom email address is an absolute must. This simply means placing your website’s domain as your email, for example info@joesconsulting.com, rather than a generic, or less professional joesconsulting@gmail.com. This small change will do wonders for your reputation, trust us. 12. Stay consistent Branding is an elusive process that requires time, energy, and commitment. Staying on top of your personal brand is equally important as creating it. The best part is, as you grow and evolve, so does your brand. Keep your personal brand consistent and make sure that any changes you make, you update across the board. Most importantly, stay true to your values, and your personal brand will follow suit. Potential drawbacks of personal branding The concept of personal branding to advance your career, or to market yourself via social media, is not without its drawbacks and potential criticisms. Some of the main ones to surface in recent years include, Superficiality. One criticism of personal branding is that it can encourage individuals to focus too much on their external image and presentation, rather than their actual skills, knowledge, and achievements. This can lead to a superficial and insincere approach to self-promotion, which may not be authentic or sustainable in the long run. Self-promotion . Another criticism of personal branding is that it may promote a culture of self-promotion, where individuals prioritize their own interests over those of an organization or even society. This can lead to a lack of collaboration and cooperation not just amongst colleagues but wider groups of people too. Pressure to conform . Personal branding can also create pressure for individuals to conform to certain stereotypes or expectations in order to fit in with their desired image or niche. This can limit creativity and individuality, and may discourage people from exploring new areas or taking risks outside of their established personal brand. It may also lead to a rise in not feeling confident enough, and lead to undue pressure to conform to a certain ideal.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Would you brand an athleisure clothing line the same way you would a portable dog groomer, or a keto cookie company? Although you could try, you’d likely miss the mark. Whether you’re creating a brand for a product, service or person, understanding the specific types of branding and the unique differences between them will help you strategize better. While there are certain variables that remain constant across all types of branding, like knowing your target market, building a brand identity, or creating your own logo , you must pay attention to the specific nuances of your field. Recognizing these subtle differences will not only help you build a more purposeful brand, it will make the experience for your customers more authentic and relevant. Types of branding Here are the most common types of branding to help you craft an unforgettable brand: Product branding Personal branding Corporate branding Retail branding Geographical branding Service branding Online branding Offline branding Co-branding 01. Product branding Products are all around us, each with its own identity or persona and purpose. Using strategic brand colors , thoughtful logos, memorable slogans and creative package designs, product branding works to not only identify specific products, but to influence perception both in the marketplace and in the mind’s of consumers. Well-executed product branding can help create brand awareness and may encourage buyers to select your product simply based on aesthetic. Of course, looks aren’t everything. Product branding is also rooted in emotion, and the feeling that consumer’s get from using your brand. co Ensuring that you’re reaching the right audience is vitally important to developing a successful brand strategy. Furthermore, understanding color psychology , the power of typography and the experience of thoughtful design, including background design , and real-life interactions, should shape your product branding decisions. An example of great product branding can be seen in Jeni’s ice cream , a premium Philadelphia-style ice cream company. Using grass-fed milk, no eggs and no synthetic flavors, Jeni’s is known for their high-quality ingredients. Even more, with exclusive flavors like brown butter almond brittle and fluffernutter pie they are truly one-of-a-kind. Jeni’s also practices an inclusive fellowship model that empowers “growers, makers, producers, suppliers, customers”, the company basically paved the way for the artisanal ice cream trend. Beyond the high-quality ice cream, the product is easily recognizable by its packaging encased in bright, playful and Insta-worthy pints that make eating them even more enjoyable. The unique packaging immediately makes an impact and stands out in any ice cream aisle or freezer. With some 44 Jeni’s Scoop Shops located across America, the same design is echoed throughout the brand website and their brick and mortar locations, which all contribute to the dependable consistency of Jeni’s product. Furthermore, Jeni’s offers direct order ice cream delivery boxes with custom ice cream packages, including branded swag and ice cream extras like sauces and sprinkles. Jeni’s has certainly made the experience of eating ice cream at home just the same as eating in a shop. The product's taste, visual identity and experience all remain consistent and that is precisely what keeps Jeni’s loyal customers coming back for more. 02. Personal Branding When you think of branding, you likely associate it with products or services, but a specific individual can also be considered a unique brand. Personal branding is just that. It is the combo of your one-of-a-kind skill set and the experiences that shape exactly who you are and how you interact with the world. It might also be sometimes referred to as individual branding. Personal branding takes place in all industries but is most common among politicians, musicians, athletes, fashion designers, actors and influencers. However, it is not just reserved for the rich and famous. Successful personal branding will make you stand out from the crowd, and give you a competitive edge, to not only advance your career, but also shape people’s perception. Like other types of branding, cultivating your own unique personal brand will help build trust, shape your reputation and open new and exciting opportunities. Having a professional online resume website , and using thoughtful social media graphics can help build your online persona. Being active on social channels, networking with other professionals in your industry and most importantly, staying true to yourself is the best way to build an authentic personal brand. Perhaps one of the best basketball players of all time, LeBron James, also known as “King James”, is a perfect example of personal branding done right. While many other athletes are experts at marketing themselves, none rival the skills that James brings both on and off the court as a master of personal branding. James, whose illustrious career began back in high school, had every sport analyst and expert in a frenzy over his impressive playing. What made (and continues to make) his talent so magnetic was also his personality, intelligence, sportsmanship and passion for the game. How many kids are told at a young age that they are destined to be one of the greatest athletes of all time, and not only live up to this expectation, but exceed it? Ripely plucked from his high school team, James was drafted to play for his home state, the Cleveland Cavaliers at just 18 years old. From there, the rest is history. King James has gone on to surpass Michael Jordan as one of the top NBA scorers (and followed his steps as a Looney Tunes buddy in the reboot Space Jam: A New Legacy). While his playing is undeniable, it is James’ strategic branding, and his brand extension efforts, done outside the game that makes him so impressive. An entrepreneur, philanthropist, actor, producer and incredibly involved father, LeBron James’s name is synonymous with leadership. Unlike many other players, James is not afraid to speak his mind and stand up for what he believes in. He is an avid supporter of Black Lives Matter and gender equality, and not only opened his own free public elementary school in Akron—he even pays for every student’s tuition. Using the leverage of just his name, James went on to forge one of the most iconic collaborations, signing a lifetime agreement to Nike. Rather than seeking sponsorships or endorsements, James cultivates partnerships (like Blaze Pizza ) that he truly believes in, which ultimately shape his personal brand in the most authentic way. What makes James’ personal branding so approachable is not only his genuine character, but the influence he has on those around him. He operates his brand without fear and always pushes for projects that are true to his heart. He is also active on social media channels, posting engaging content on Twitter, and showing his family life on Instagram and TikTok, solidifying his public persona with his brand values through and through. 03. Corporate branding Similar to product and personal branding, corporate branding is the creation of a brand identity, but for an entire corporation. It is the total sum of parts of a corporate entity rather than just individual products or services. Corporate branding requires a great deal of strategy because it must account for every aspect of the company (or companies), which includes all products, customer service, employee culture and impact on the market. When corporate branding is done well, it can make lasting impressions and foster brand recognition . This is why consistency is key in order to cultivate brand trust while also shaping perception. Things like your brand values, brand messaging, brand voice and visual brand style guide play an essential role in developing an authentic corporate identity. A great example of corporate branding can be seen in the company e.l.f cosmetics (stands for eyes, lips, face), a low-cost, 100% cruelty-free vegan makeup line that has made waves in the drugstore cosmetics industry. The brand was founded on the basis of creating affordable products for customers who have expensive taste. Co-founder Scott Vincent Borba explains in a CNN interview , "I saw all these women with Louis Vuitton purses, and they were just buying truckloads of lip balms and nail polishes, and I thought there's a major market here." And so the company was founded to create inexpensive good-quality makeup that also happens to be totally vegan-friendly (which of course opened up another market). What makes e.l.f. 's corporate branding so impressive is their very identifiable and authentic brand values, which can be seen in their brand messaging, unequivocally promoting diversity, inclusion and a commitment to cruelty-free production. They proudly declare on their website, “e.l.f. stands with every eye, lip, face and paw”. Not only do they uphold these values in their products, but they truly practice what they preach by partnering with a myriad of non-profit organizations and donating profits from their sales to these worthy causes, that are perfectly aligned with their values. Each detail from their logo and package design to their Instagram posts and influencer collaborations serve to identify who they are, and what they stand for. Perhaps the most noteworthy mashup was between e.l.f and Chipotle , where they created a limited edition palette most specifically targeted at Gen Z, which sold out in just 4 minutes. On the day of the product launch, Chipotle also sold a special vegan dish, further emphasizing their initiative. E.l.f’s corporate identity is unmistakable, which lets current and prospective customers already have a deep understanding of their product's purpose, quality, price and reliability. Another example of corporate branding is employer branding. This is a process of establishing and promoting a company's reputation and image as an employer. It puts to work various strategies and activities aimed at creating a positive perception of the organization among current and potential employees, as well as the public. Employer branding involves creating a unique value proposition that sets the organization apart from its competitors, and effectively communicating that message to target audiences. This can include showcasing the company culture, values, benefits, career development opportunities, and other aspects that make it an attractive place to work. For example, employees posting about work gifts or training on social media, or LinkedIn. 04. Retail branding Most of us know the familiar feeling of walking into an Anthropologie store. The immediate relaxation of lit candles, bright whimsical furnishings and thoughtfully styled mannequins—even the playlist is meticulously curated. What’s more, it doesn’t matter which location you walk into, all stores are consistent and create the same ambient experience. This is strategic and this is retail branding. For brick and mortar shops, creating an experience within the physical space of the store can sometimes feel more important than the products you’re selling. Why? Because this experiential association develops brand recognition and positive (or negative) associations with your brand. It all boils down to emotion and the feeling customers get when they enter your store, something that can’t be mimicked anywhere else. Let’s take a look at a cutting edge example of retail branding seen with Canadian athletic apparel brand Reigning Champ. The minimalist brand highlights on their website, “Our process is guided by our principles: Respect the details. Master simplicity”. And just like the neutral tones (just black, gray and navy) of their clothing line, the store mimics the same restraint. Their store locations are impeccably clean, bright and light, and put the clothes front and center. The Canadian brand recently opened their first flagship store in Los Angeles, with notable design touches like moveable clothing racks situated along wheeled tracks. Paired with clean concrete floors and their signature white tiled walls, the store exudes refinement while also evoking the spirit of a gymnasium. This is a perfect example of how every aspect of the retail branding experience can influence consumers while holistically representing the brand down to the last detail. 05. Geographical branding While this type of branding is often specific to the hotel and tourism industry, there are no hard and fast rules. Most commonly, geographical branding can work in two ways. The first is reserved for specific locations (cities, towns, countries, regions) who want to promote and boost tourism to support their local economies. On a national level, it may be referred to as nation branding or a more micro level, place branding. The second is for very niche products that are only produced in specific locations, like avocados from Mexico or cigars from Cuba. These are known as geographical indications (GI) and authenticate the source and quality of specific products by legitimizing the reputation of the specific location. Take a look at Helsinki , the capital of Finland, an excellent example of geographical branding. Updated in 2017, the seaside city got a fresh new brand identity, one that communicates the vibrant flare of the city known for its sustainable practices, unique architecture and Nordic culture. According to Scandinavian design studio Werklig , who was responsible for the new look, “The Helsinki logo was designed based on the most recognizable Helsinki symbol, the traditional Helsinki crest”. They further explain, “The new logo was designed to be adaptive and responsive to various content. The graphic wave motif (and its variations) used as a graphic element was also derived from the coat of arms”. Paired with a bright color palette and a sans-serif type font, Helsinki’s “city brand” reflects both modern progressiveness with traditional roots that makes it recognizable around the world. 06. Service branding Compared to some other types of branding we’ve covered in this article, service branding does not necessarily have a material or tangible product—rather, a service that is provided. Since many services do not have an immediate outcome, or instant result, they can be harder to brand. Let’s say you want to start a tutoring business, offering various teaching services. You must find a way to convince prospective customers that your services will help them pass their test, get into college or learn a new language (depending on which kind of tutor you are). But if you don’t have any pupils yet, how can you build your reputation? This is where service branding requires creativity and strategy. Since service branding is very experiential, it almost always involves customer relationships. Going above and beyond to offer first-rate customer service will not only help your brand, but also its reputation. Integrating a live chat feature into your website is just one way to give real-time responses and boost engagement. On the same note, keeping an active social media presence can bring awareness to your services in innovative ways. Let’s take a look at an amazing example of service branding from Go Clean Co , a Canadian-based residential cleaning company that has totally changed the game. Founded by Sarah McAllister, the home cleaning business started out as a relatively small operation and now has over a million Instagram followers, an extensive product line and a flawless reputation. Furthermore, McAllister is known as the “Quaranclean Queen” — referring, of course, to the deep cleaning activities achieved during quarantine. Not only does Go Clean Co offer top-notch services with their now famous # cleanarmy, a team of meticulous cleaners, they’ve gone above and beyond offering cleaning hacks on social media, and even thorough handbooks that include how-tos for every kind of stain, mess or surface. Go Clean Co’s Instagram is chock-full of satisfying before and after stories, and honest how-to’s showing the team removing the most stubborn stains and reorganizing the most chaotic messes. Her mantra of “Bleach Pray Love” has even extended into branded merchandise, all available on the company’s online shop where users can purchase apparel, gift cards, and even artfully curated digital prints of laundry labels. With the company’s logo, catchphrase, hashtags and even a custom cleaning solvent, Go Clean Co shows that when done right, service branding can be very lucrative. If your reputation precedes you, your customers will certainly be lining up for your services. 07. Online branding Online branding refers to the way in which a company positions itself in the marketplace using websites, social media platforms and anything that takes place on the internet. With this in mind, your online branding efforts must be consistent and in-line with your brand identity. Online branding may also be referred to as digital branding or internet branding. Whether this means the specific website design approach you take, the style of your email marketing campaigns or even the domain name you use, they must all carry the same brand persona in order for customers to recognize your brand and get the same kind of experience—even online. Let’s take a look at Artipoppe , the avant-garde baby carrier brand that has completely updated the concept, putting a hot new spin on baby wearing. Created with the notion of ‘The New Motherhood’, founder Anna van den Bogert is trying to shift the paradigm of parenthood and says, “Artipoppe has always been about empowerment and freedom. Freedom to listen to your inner voice and freedom in the way you move through this world”. With stylish leopard print, velvet, silk and even vicuña wool (the world’s most expensive wool) these baby carriers can run you up to $7,800. Artipoppe’s Zeitgeist baby carriers have been spotted on celebs like Chrissy Teigen, Shay Mitchell and Jessica Alba, and they even did a collaboration with The Rolling Stones. The brand has successfully built a persona as the fashionable choice amongst trendy millennial moms, becoming both a status symbol and must-have accessory. Artipoppe’s name, logo and unmistakable baby carriers are easily recognizable and sold almost exclusively in their online shop. Their online branding can be seen on their modern website which showcases hip dads and stylish moms going about their busy lives while also looking good and holding their little ones. It can also be noted on their Instagram , which showcases super cool parents looking au courant in black and white stills and picturesque environments, effectively shaping the feeling of what it’s like to wear one. While it may not be the best baby carrier on the market, they’ve successfully made it one of the most fashionable ones. 08. Offline branding In contrast to online branding, offline branding simply refers to everything that takes place offline. Although we live in a digital era, attention must be paid to tangible branding assets and materials like merchandise, packaging, print ads, billboards, direct mail, bus or subway ads or benches. Offline marketing can also be loyalty rewards programs, contests, events, pop-up sales and face-to-face interactions. Sometimes offline branding can also be supported by guerrilla marketing tactics, using out-of-the-box marketing strategies and attention-grabbing stunts to bring your brand to life. Offline branding crosses boundaries because it is relevant to all other types of branding, from personal to corporate, and requires some creative thinking to truly reach customers in an authentic and meaningful way. This type of branding can help bring attention, and visibility in real-world environments and help consumers make connections to your business. You know the iconic holiday cup from Starbucks? People wait all year for the specially designed cups that mark the start of the festive season. While the coffee tastes the exact same, the experience of drinking out of the joyous cup pushes sales and Instagram posts every year. However, these nostalgic cups are not always embraced with good cheer. They came under fire in recent years, sparking controversy over the cup design, which polarized views and shone a light on American values, religion, inclusivity and diversity. Regardless of the backlash, the cups have become a part of American culture. Love them or hate them, you can expect to see them each year as they continue to be a part of the coffee chain’s offline branding. 09. Co-branding Who doesn’t love when two good friends get together? Now that you have a better understanding of different types of branding, let’s explore one more approach that combines two different brands together—co-branding. Co-branding is when two (or more) brands come together in a strategic partnership, in order to bring more brand awareness to all parties involved. What’s more, sometimes when two unlikely brands pair up, they introduce each other to new audiences. By using their coveted brand trust to essentially vouch for the partner brand, this type of branding is beneficial for everyone. An amazing example of co-branding is when British online retailer ASOS paired with The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, also known as GLAAD, to create a unique seasonal collection. The ASOS DESIGN X GLAAD line which is made up of mostly unisex apparel also donates 100% of the net profit to support LGBTQ communities. The colorful kaleidoscope of clothing was launched strategically in June during Pride Month, which served to not only give back to marginalized communities, but solidify ASOS as a choice for all. ASOS is known for promoting body positivity, using diverse models in a range of sizes, and selling pieces that fit all shapes. Beyond this, they are committed to sustainability, ethical employment and innovation, hosting an annual competition where young new designers can submit garments. This strategic partnership serves both ASOS and GLAAD to promote their causes, bring awareness to their shared passions and support their mutual communities that they support. A match made in fashion heaven. Very often co-branding also makes use of celebrity branding, using a well-known face with their own brand to partner with a product or service for branding and marketing purposes. Why is branding important? At its core, branding hinges on trust. Think of it as a relationship between two individuals: the cuscotomer and the brand, which represents the business. Within this relationship, authenticity plays a critical role. It builds trust and creates emotional bonds. It fosters consistency, engagement and reduces reputation risks. Yaya Aaronsohn , Head of Brand Maker at Wix At its core, branding is not just about logos and color combinations ; it's about creating a distinct identity that resonates with your target audience. A strong brand not only captures attention but also builds trust and credibility over time. When consumers recognize and trust a brand, they are more likely to choose it over competitors, fostering loyalty and repeat business. By tapping into your target market's values, you can forge deeper relationships that extend beyond transactional exchanges. These emotional connections not only drive customer loyalty but also fuel brand advocacy, with satisfied customers becoming ambassadors who champion the brand to others. By investing in branding efforts that build recognition, trust and emotional connections, you can create a sustainable competitive advantage that drives growth and profitability in an increasingly crowded and competitive landscape. Read more about logo color combinations and how using complementary colors can make your branding more memorable.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Floral design is an art form, but it’s also a business that relies on a steady influx of new clients. While for some that means neutralizing their website’s style or conforming to customer expectations, floral studio Moonwake Meadow  charts a different path. Instead of diluting her brand identity to appeal to the masses, Founder Nicole Oliveira tailors her website branding  to attract those drawn to her aesthetic. “The [Moonwake Meadow] website is fully a reflection of who I am as a person,” says Nicole.  This choice isn’t just a personal expression—it’s a strong marketing strategy  for attracting the right clientele rather than attracting everyone. In her opinion, staying true to your vision pays off, even if you lose some interest in the short term. We spoke to Nicole to learn more about the process she went through to create her unique branding  and the lessons learned from that experience. Design a website  that matches your style with Wix today. Capture your true self in your branding to attract the right customers While you should always be mindful of your target audience, you should avoid being disingenuous for the sake of appealing to a new group of consumers. It may be tempting to crack jokes and use slang  or weigh in on divisive issues to drum up attention, but people tend to see right through these attempts. You’ve built a business around your passion and unique talents—why not give your brand the same treatment? Nicole leans into her personality and aesthetic preferences when building her brand . “I want people to come to me because they like my specific style, so I try to push that out into the world,” even if it pushes a small segment of people away, she explains.  After examining dozens of academic papers on brand authenticity, the researchers behind this study  concluded that authenticity in branding encompasses two main aspects: Genuineness: The brand expression is truthful. Originality:  The brand is unique and innovative. Moonwake Meadow embodies these qualities, challenging the status quo when it comes to her website branding . “People love to go onto a website and see a really clean canvas with a neutral background and very beautiful photos,” she says. “But I love color and patterns, so I brought that in.” Indeed, her site bursts with personality, not because the layout is avant-garde or because it features wild animations, but because her visual choices are cohesive and specific. Altogether, they create a striking and unique vision. Something as simple as a creative font choice can bring the visual appeal that’ll lure in consumers. The Moonwake Meadow site features the Narnia typeface for headers. With letters that curve and bubble like lava lamps, each one is a work of art in and of itself. A buttoned-up business or a traditional bride might find the playfulness of the font off-putting, but those looking for a florist who is experimental and playful will feel nothing but inspired. The color palette is similarly funky. The primary color scheme is made of a yellowed beige and blueberry-juice purple, a sharp contrast in both hue and temperature, giving the site a rich and moody dynamism. The secondary color scheme is a collection of retro hues: mustard, olive, amaro and candy-heart pink. This nostalgic influence lends Nicole’s site a lively and approachable feel—and communicates to viewers that, if they want colorful arrangements and installations, Moonwake Meadow is well-suited to bring their vision to life.  Get personal to spark real connections In a world where new profit-hungry brands crop up every day, purpose and sincerity go a long way. To that end, Nicole uses Moonwake Meadow’s digital platforms to consistently convey her sincerity as a founder. You'll find a deeper connection with her passion when you explore the "Our Story" page, where Nicole shares how her upbringing in her mother's floral shop ignited her love for flowers and inspired her dream of becoming a floral designer. Her brand story not only highlights her values but also showcases the profound depth of her commitment, making her brand seem truly authentic. This carries through to the brand’s social media—you can hear Nicole’s voice through her captions. She isn’t afraid to be vulnerable in divulging her feelings. “Seeing these photos gets me so emotional because I just remember all the heart that was put into this wedding,” she writes in this Instagram post . “[We’re] so happy to have been a part of it and create floral magic. This is why we love what we do!”  Identify your 'why' to build a brand with staying power It might seem like Nicole conjured her brand out of thin air, but brand development takes time and reflection. Nicole wanted her brand to reflect her adoration of the beauty of nature, but she also wanted it to be whimsical and free-spirited with a hint of moodiness.  Her branding journey began with selecting a brand name . “I wanted something that sounded bohemian and created some sort of vision,” she explains. The term “moonwake,” which refers to the reflection of moonlight on a body of water, immediately struck her as evocative and beautiful. Combined with the word “meadow,” the two terms captured her aspiration to reflect the elegance of nature through her art. Use a company name generator  to get some inspiration. The logo—which functions as a symbolic representation of the business name—sits unorthodoxly on the bottom edge of the site’s hero fold and bleeds into the one that follows. It’s magical and bountiful, with Nicole’s hand holding a bunch of flowers in front of a crescent moon, butterflies adding to that delicate ethereality. “I love it so much that I just got it tattooed,” she gushes. It was entirely her vision, but Nicole hired graphic designer Dominic Design  to bring it to life. “I wouldn’t have been able to come up with it on my own because graphic work is not my forte,” she adds. Start building your brand with Wix’s logo maker  today. Finally, she designed her website on Wix. “I tried to make a website on [another site builder], but it was too cookie-cutter for me,” she says. “I loved Wix because it’s so much more customizable. I designed my whole website on my own. It was time-consuming, but it was surprisingly easy.” But yet again, she brought in a pro—Amy Chan from Three Truths Designs —to bring her vision to life. In both instances, starting on her own ensured that her brand would accurately represent her vision before she hired someone to give it a polish. The investment paid off—her site traffic doubled after she launched the new website design. “Outside of updating the photo gallery, I haven’t changed anything since,” she says. Hire a website designer  through the Wix Marketplace . Nicole's perspective on her business illuminates how important it is to identify your why—and never forget it. For her, Moonwake Meadow isn't just a business; it's a personal journey and a reflection of her identity. "My business is my baby," she explains. "It’s all I think about, it’s all I stress about, it’s everything to me."  Bring your authentic brand to life— sign up for Wix  today.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Branding isn’t something built over decades through unlimited resources. And branding is much more than your logo design or slogan (though, to be fair, those things are elements of good branding). Then, what is branding ? "Brand is about consistency: consistent behavior, really focusing down on who your audience is, and making sure that you're meeting them in the most honest way possible," Steve Kalifowitz, chief marketing officer at Crypto.com, tells Rob Goodman, host of Wix’s Now What? podcast, in the season two premiere . Kalifowitz began his career at ABC Television before joining HBO, where he earned two Emmy Awards and four nominations. He went on to lead business, strategy and operations for R/GA, a global digital marketing agency, then worked as director of brand strategy for Twitter. (Heard of it?) Now, as CMO of Crypto.com, Kalifowitz is leading the charge for the cryptocurrency industry's first consumer brand—new territory, to be sure—and he has important branding takeaways (for branding in general, brand management, brand extension and more) that apply to business owners, whether or not they’re interested in cryptocurrency. He shares them here, and on the Now What? podcast. 1. Find your product-market fit first Kalifowitz says you shouldn't invest too much in your brand until you have product-market fit. “The reason for that is that until you have product-market fit, you don't yet know what it is that you're making," he says. You need to make sure that you're solving a problem and know who you're solving that problem for, only then can you build a brand . Even still, a good brand strategy doesn't come out of thin air; it's the soul and core of your company, Kalifowitz says. "Brand is like a puzzle, when all the pieces of the puzzle come together well, and they fit together subconsciously in a person's mind, then that's their understanding of the brand." FYI: Your logo is a big piece of this puzzle. Make one for your brand with this free logo maker . 2. Be an expert storyteller Kalifowitz believes that good storytelling matters. "As human beings, we're wired to understand stories," he says. That’s why Crypto.com’s campaign, " Fortune Favors the Brave ,” tells a brand story that their audience can connect with. The campaign features brave explorers throughout history and reminds people that being first can be rewarding. Then, it invites the viewer to be an early crypto investor (“you too can be part of this journey”) because the best stories inspire action. "Our goal with ’Fortune Favors the Brave’ is to inspire people to follow their path,” Kalifowitz says. 3. Only work with an agency when you’re ready So, when is the right time to partner with an agency? Well, Kalifowitz firmly believes that defining your brand is internal work—but external players can keep you honest. "Your brand needs to express who you are, and outside consultants provide a really important value, which is to often shine a light or hold up a mirror and say, 'here's what we see from the outside,'" says Kalifowitz. Not to mention, defining your brand will allow an agency to do their best work. For example, Kalifowitz and his team worked with an agency on the “Fortune Favors the Brave” campaign. The Crypto.com team provided super clear direction and a buttoned-up brief, which allowed the agency to lean into who Crypto.com is as a brand and develop the best campaign possible. You need to know who you are as a company, then an agency can help you express it. Listen to the episode now: Spotify Amazon Music Stitcher You can also enjoy more of our branding articles, including how to come up with a brand name .

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Whether you run a new or established small business, you must understand your target market to build an impactful brand. As time goes on, your target market may end up looking very different than what it did when you started. For instance, while you may have updated your brand just a decade or so ago to cater to millennials, a new market is on the horizon. The advertising agency blog Shots reports that by 2030, Gen Z will hold $3 trillion in spending power. Looking to get a slice of that pie? You’ll need to understand how this generation differs from those before and how you can effectively market your brand strategy and website branding to them. Here, we explore who qualifies as Gen Z, why they matter as a marketing cohort and how to build a brand that resonates with this game-changing generation. A well-designed logo can help set your brand apart in the minds of Gen Z. Make one that stands out with a free logo maker , or explore your possibilities with the Discord Logo Maker . Who is Gen Z? The Pew Research Center defines Gen Z as anyone born between the years 1997 to 2012. The ~2 billion Gen Zers make up an impressive 26% of the global population, the largest generation alive. As The CM Group “Marketing to Gen Z” report finds : “Gen Z is emerging as the primary driver of our workforce and economy. And it’s in this new world that this bold yet grounded generation is positioned to redefine—well—just about everything.” Why Gen Z matters Gen Z is important because they will make up the majority of American consumers and will have the largest amount of spending power in the next seven years. They also demand a lot from the businesses that they work with or they buy from. Gen Z is disruptive, bringing about change and making an impact across the board. And they are also not limited by the local—they think on a global level. What’s important to Gen Z? What matters to Gen Z includes values like: Inclusivity and diversity Authenticity and trust Eco-friendly and sustainable practices Speed and efficiency Humor Community Inclusivity and diversity As Pew Research Center finds, Gen Z comprises the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history. This has led to a generation that tries to increasingly accommodate beyond the status quo. As Roberta Katz, a senior research scholar at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, writes : “A typical Gen Zer is a self-driver who deeply cares about others, strives for a diverse community, is highly collaborative and social, values flexibility, relevance, authenticity and non-hierarchical leadership, and, while dismayed about inherited issues like climate change, has a pragmatic attitude about the work that has to be done to address those issues.” Authenticity and trust While Gen Z obviously appreciates a pleasing aesthetic, brand message and attitude, actions speak louder than words. They want brands to be authentic. As Shachaf Rodberg, an analyst who is committed to educating and inspiring the Wix marketing team, explains: “Since Gen Z has grown up with technology literally at their fingertips, they’ve become quite sophisticated and savvy customers. They have an almost superpower to detect bullsh*t”. And if they don’t feel like your brand is authentic, it can be detrimental: According to Forrester data , “Gen Zers don’t hesitate to cancel brands when they sense a shallow veneer.” Canceling can be as small as a personal unfollow, hide, or block on social media—or as large as a mass boycott of a brand. Eco-friendly and sustainable practices In a survey conducted by creative consultancy Adolescent Content , 75% of Gen Z consumers said they wish to leave the planet in a better state than they got it. And they expect the brands and businesses they interact with to do so, too. Speed and efficiency Since Gen Z has grown up living and breathing technology, they have connected, communicated, dated, worked and shopped online for most of their lives. This constant dependence on technology, and steady demand for information, stimulation and instantaneous connection has both positive and negative implications: As the CM Group report shares, “By contrast, this new generation is more practical and ambitious than emotional and idealistic. They’re focused on education and success, and they use technology to get what they want.” Humor While an entire generation’s sense of humor can’t be lumped into one category, Gen Z shares a distinct brand of humor. As Natalie Gabor writes , “When faced with this gloomy concoction of having too many things to deal with and not being old enough or having enough time to tackle them, Gen Z must turn to an alternative to completely throwing in the towel and succumbing to a life of misery and hopelessness: humor.” There is something comforting, or at least assuring, about a shared experience, and for Gen Z, sometimes this collective laugh at a somewhat inside joke can be quite powerful. Community As Shots further explains, “Gen Z has different priorities than Millennials and Gen X. Despite unprecedented generational diversity, there are core values that drive this generation as a whole; they want to create a more equitable society for not only themselves, but future generations.“ Because of this, marketers and brands must shift to a new mindset, as Gen Z demands digital authenticity from anyone they interact with. This means being genuine and maintaining a consistent voice and image throughout every single touchpoint, channel and customer interaction. Where to find Gen Z If you decide to try Gen Z branding for your business, you must understand the spaces and places that they frequent online. While many Gen Zers use a variety of media platforms, these tech-savvy consumers have clear expectations for the platforms they use. For your messages to reach them, you not only need to be where they are, but also communicate in the way they're used to on each platform. Each social platform has its own language, style, lingo, hashtags and visuals. Understanding each platform’s nuances is half of the battle, and it can be approached like learning a new language. As Harvard Business Review shares, this is some of the spaces where brands are reaching Gen Z : Fortnite Roblox Discord TikTok Twitch How to brand for Gen Z While there is no one-size-fits all approach to reaching this new audience, you can start your branding journey by trying out some of these Gen Z approved marketing strategies: Create inclusive experiences Experiment with video Focus on social proof Engage in real time Have a sense of humor Remember that regardless of which approach you try, always keep your brand purpose in the forefront when implementing Gen Z branding. Setting core brand values empowers your business to elevate brand consistency across all marketing, communications and sales channels. This might begin as early as the point when you choose your brand name , or it may come later. 01. Create inclusive experiences Gen Z was born during the late 90s, or as B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore would call it, the rise of the “ experience economy .” Rather than having their parents make the cake or organize home birthday parties, they spent $100 or more to “outsource” the entire event to a business that stages a memorable event, like Chuck E. Cheese’s. Additionally, for this cohort of the Instagram generation , life is a series of photo ops. When implementing Gen Z marketing, try creating inclusive experiences to support your core product—while Millennials may have responded well to exclusive events that evoked the fear of missing out, you’ll better reach Gen Z if you offer spaces where everyone feels welcome and valued. While this can be as extravagant as an immersive activation, it can be as chill as simply offering more ways to interact with the brand. Meta found that 38% of Gen Z respondents said they’d enjoy receiving a brand’s recommended products through a quiz. 02. Experiment with video When Gen Z wants to make dinner, they won’t Google a recipe and read a whole longform blog post. They’ll head to TikTok, their go-to search engine , where they can see an entire dish made in a few seconds. This generation never had to rewind—and maybe that’s why they prefer video content. According to Horowitz Research’s "State of Gen Z 2021" study, 78% of 13 to 24-year-olds stream TV content (TV shows, movies, sports) weekly, while 79% stream short-form content (short clips, user-generated content, video game live streams, videos on social media.) With Gen Z marketing, try creating video content that’s speedy and efficient in multiple ways. For example, you can get your new offerings in front of them with a quick, no-frills demo video— market research shows that 85% of Generation Z learns about new products on social media. Or you can jump on trends and ride the waves of Gen Z’s notable sharing culture. For example, Ocean Spray seized a viral TikTok moment when (now famous) Nathan Apodaca skateboarded home and on a whim recorded himself lip-syncing to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” while drinking his juice. Ocean Spray acted fast, riding the momentum and excitement of the video and created a TV advertisement for the Major League Baseball’s Playoffs that featured Apodaca’s video, along with copycat versions and the original recording. (Plus, to appeal to Gen Z’s trust, they gifted Apodaca a truck. ) Tip: While Gen Z treats their content as ephemeral, you can reach other audiences with the same content and get more return on your effort. Upload your short-form videos to your website and add some descriptive text to increase your chances that older generations will find it via Google. Use consistent color combinations throughout to solidify your branding. 03. Focus on social proof Speaking of Gen Z’s sharing culture, friends of their friends are… also their friends. Gen Z’s community approach means that social proof is one of the most important ways to market to them. As Trust , a platform designed specifically for customer testimonials, shares, “Social proof offers a way to speak to Gen Z at their own level and reflect their needs.” Gen Z is less interested in what “experts” have to say, and more interested in hearing real experiences from their friends, social networks, microinfluencers or even other users. When marketing to Gen Z, tap into already existing trust by partnering with influencers that carry similar values to your brand but have an audience you may not normally interact with. For example, Prada was looking to extend their brand awareness to Gen Z, so they collaborated with Cassius Hirst —a fingerboarding and sneaker art influencer, and also the son of legendary British artist Damien Hirst. This strategic and clever move from the luxury goods brand granted them access to Hirst’s audience and extended the social proof that Prada is still on trend as ever. 04. Engage in real time While Millennials, Gen X and Boomers may be booking digital detoxes, Gen Z is still always on their phones. Not only are they always connected, they’re also pretty much down to interact whenever. According to an Agora study , a whopping 90% of Gen Z use apps with interactive live video. Meta claims that Gen Zers want “personalized, direct contact with brands.” And as Bunny Kinney, editorial director at NOWNESS, shared in Dazed Media’s "2031: A Future World " report, “We’re wanting brands to behave more like humans, and in the future, brands will become humans. This will be an evolution of marketing whereby brands seek to build stronger relationships with their consumers.” To Gen Z, talking to a person behind a brand in real time builds community, authenticity, and trust—not to mention a display of their speed and efficiency. By tapping into your audience’s mindset and frequenting the places they are, brands can find opportunities to meet consumers at the right time. While this can be as large scale as livestream shopping on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, it can also be as small as interacting with a microniche. For example, designer Shirley Tang grew a following of 24,000 devotees on Depop by trading messages and commentary about her creations on the app using her authentic brand voice. When she grew frustrated with the 10 percent commission the app took from every transaction, she started her own Wix site Oriens —and that real-time investment paid off. Her audience, fueled by brand trust and loyalty, followed onto her own site. While waiting around for Gen Z can be a surefire strategy—so can creating your own demand with strategically-timed product drops. London-based streetwear brand Corteiz “ shut down the city ” over its “Bolo exchange,” a unique event that encouraged the brand's followers to swap jackets from corporate brands for Corteiz’s newest puffer jacket dubbed "the Bolo". The company founder Clint broadcast the location on socials and supporters flocked to the site within minutes. 05. Have a sense of humor Gen Z branding means meeting them where they are, speaking to them in their language and meeting their expectations. The gold standard for this type of marketing is Duolingo. The language-learning app relinquished total creative freedom of TikTok ads to Zaria Parvez, its Gen Z global social media manager. She basically went rogue , with content the internet has described as “ unhinged .” With some 4.7 million followers and counting, Duolingo’s TikTok bio aptly says, “just an owl tryna vibe,” and the content features a wide range of owl antics from the brand’s mascot Duo, along with videos featuring Dua Lipa as well as minion interns , a nod to the movement spearheaded by Gen Z fans . Try to tap into a communal joke, quickly and efficiently. If you painstakingly create a meme only to post it two months after it was shared everywhere, then that can actually damage your brand, showing that you’re out of touch. (If you miss the mark, own up to it and try to authentically ride the wave of the punchline: A DeVries Global survey found that 84% of Gen Z respondents would forgive and support a brand that takes action and accountability.) Just remember: one person’s sense of humor may not translate well to a wide audience, so create carefully. Humor must be inclusive, clever and relatable—and importantly not at the expense of a specific group.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Have you ever stopped to think about how your favorite brand created its now infamous name? Did the founders choose to name the business after themselves, like Glen Bell did with his chain Taco Bell, or was the name simply selected at random? We’ve done some digging and in doing so, discovered the pretty incredible stories behind the brand names we all know and love. So whether you're looking to build your own brand , look into brand extension and website branding , or are just curious - we've got some great famous brands, and a bit about their journey into being for you. Famous brands with a funny story behind them BIC Corporation –  At first glance we thought: okay, another company who simply took the easy road and named their product after themselves. Bic could be a nice last name. However the naming of BIC Corporation has a bit more humor behind it. Co-founder Marcel Bich decided to drop the "H" in his surname to avoid a potentially, ahem, unfortunate English mispronunciation. Famous brands - search engines edition Google –  Do you remember living in a time before spell check existed? Neither do we. But if you can believe it, a simple spelling mistake actually led to the name of the world’s most popular search engine. In a brainstorming session between co-founder Larry Page and then graduate student Sean Anderson, the name ‘Googolplex’ was suggested to reflect the search engine’s ability to index an immense amount of data. At Page’s request to shorten the name to ‘Googol,’ Anderson ran a search to confirm the availability of the name, but searched for the word ‘Google,’ instead. Page liked the name (and the incorrect spelling!) so they registered the domain Google.com . Looks like being runner up in the spelling bee really does pay off. Yahoo! – Yahoo is sort of like the step-brother everyone ignores in comparison to its more popular and better looking brother, Google, but there’s no doubt that Yahoo’s name (and their famous Yahoo yodel ) is hard to forget. Creators Jerry Yang and David Filo found their inspiration for this popular search engine from creatures called ‘Yahoos’ out of Jonathan Swift’s, “Gulliver’s Travels.” A Yahoo is defined as rude, unsophisticated and uncouth which Yang and Filo felt accurately described themselves. The name Yahoo had already been trademarked, so an exclamation point had to be added in order to establish their brand. Well, Yahoo is definitely catchier than their original idea: David and Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web. Imagine typing that into your web browser everyday! Famous brands we couldn't imagine living without Starbucks –  Long before ItsJustACup was trending, a writer, a history teacher and an English teacher walked into a coffee shop. What sounds like the beginning of a joke you’d hear from your dad is actually the story behind the Starbucks coffeehouse chain. The three founders believed that words beginning with the letters “st” were most powerful and on their quest to find a name, stumbled upon a mining town named Starbo in the Cascade Mountain Range. To writer and founder Gordon Bowker, the name instantly reminded him of Starbuck, a character from the classic novel Moby Dick. While a tribute to Moby Dick and the association with the romance of the high seas is the most widely believed story behind the name Starbucks, it was really just an added bonus for literary lovers. Apple –  Imagine going through your day-to-day without your iPhone, iPod or whatever other iNvention you can’t live without. It’s hard to picture it, we know. Before creating the powerhouse consumer electronics company, co-founder Steve Jobs spent time working at an apple orchard in Oregon. At the time he was on one of his fruitarian diets and felt that the name was approachable and fun. At a time when other computer companies had complex names and logos, Jobs wanted to distance himself with a more spirited and less intimidating feel than that of his competitors. Today, Apple is still the picture of simplicity and approachability. Jobs’ time working in the fields certainly was worth it. Wix – Okay, so maybe we’re a little bit biased, but this list wouldn’t be complete without the story behind Wix! We’re all about changing the way people create a website which is exactly how the name Wix was born. During our founders’ beachside brainstorming session, they decided on two requirements: start with a W after our dear friend, the World Wide Web and to be super easy, reflecting one of our core values. Only after we went global did we consider that Wix may in fact be a real word in other languages. Not to worry our German friends – we can take a joke. Looking for more great branding examples? Check out our guide to Gen Z branding for the most up to date inspiration.

Find the perfect branding for your designs with Wixel → Imagine watching a movie where the protagonist has no personality or emotion. Everything they say contrasts starkly with their actions and the personality they established in the beginning. Following the story will be incredibly hard, if there even is one. Without a cohesive story or a compelling protagonist, the audience will zone out or, worse, walk out. When this happens in movies, you can blame bad screenwriting. But when an audience can’t follow a business’s story, it results from ineffective brand messaging. So, how do you keep this from happening to your brand? In addition to building a great looking site for your brand and creating your own logo , spending time on your brand messaging and website branding will elevate your business. Below, we’ll explain the different types of brand messaging, the framework you’ll use to create yours as well as tips on how to use it. Build your brand with the Wix Logo Maker . What is brand messaging? Brand messaging is the unique way in which a company communicates who it is, what it does, and how it differs from everyone else. As part of the larger branding picture, brand messaging essentially brings together non-visual branding elements to create both a verbal and non-verbal language for the brand. Elements like: Mission statement Vision statement Core values Unique value proposition Brand pillars From this, the brand can create a communication style that reflects its personality, values, and story. External vs. internal brand messaging Look at brand messaging as more than just a marketing or sales tactic; instead, consider it a holistic language you can use for diverse purposes, both externally and internally. External brand messaging How a brand communicates with the public, its audience and its customers. With the public: Brands typically communicate with the general public through ad campaigns—on TV, the radio, and social media. They don’t have very long to get their message across, which is why businesses opt to feature catchy slogans and jingles in their public-facing brand messages. This external brand messaging can improve brand awareness and visibility. With the target audience: There are many avenues through which a brand can communicate with its target audience and leads, including a website, social media accounts, a company blog, podcast, etc. Regardless of where they communicate with them, the language—and the story and values they derive from will be the same. The goal is creating a public personality that feels more like a friend or trusted confidante than a faceless enterprise or machine (you can also use cool fonts to make this happen). Delta’s Twitter feed illustrates this, highlighting a mix of messages from mindful travel tips to fun conversation starters. The warm, friendly posts make the brand feel more relatable and trustworthy. With customers: Customers, of course, see the same brand messaging that the public and leads do; however, they also encounter it throughout their personal experiences with the company on the website or over email. Customer service interactions, such as messaging on packaging design , order confirmation emails, flyer ideas , return instructions, thank-you cards and even tone of voice in live chat or support tickets, also reflect your brand messaging. Learn more: How to make a flyer Internal brand messaging How a brand communicates with its stakeholders, from investors and partners to its employees. This language serves as the core of any communication and shapes the company culture. Furthermore, it teaches employees how to effectively communicate both internally and externally. If you use the brand messaging framework, you’ll find that the process logically documents what you do, who you want to be in the market, and how you’ll differentiate your brand and your message. Internal brand messaging is important for the following reasons: Brand clarity: Have you ever talked to someone about their job, asked them what their company does, and they couldn’t describe it? That company’s brand messaging was either unclear or non-existent. If a brand’s employees can’t easily answer “What do we do?” you can bet that people outside the company can’t either. Company culture: Effective brand messaging improves company culture. When a brand articulates its mission, vision and values, employees feel more invested because they understand the purpose behind what they do. In turn, they more productively and effectively carry out their individual responsibilities. Effective messaging also includes a defined brand language that gives employees a sense of ownership. External interactions: When employees clearly understand the brand message and live it day in and day out, their own external interactions reflect that brand message and personality. The brand messaging framework Your brand messaging framework is a document that brings together the non-visual components of your business. If you’ve gone through the steps of how to build a brand , you’ll recognize some elements; however, make sure your complete brand messaging framework includes the additional elements mentioned below. Target audience Brand story Vision statement Mission statement Core values Unique value proposition (UVP) Messaging pillars Brand voice Tagline Elevator pitch 01. Target audience To write brand messaging that connects with your audience, you need to know who they are. What are the average demographics of your target user? What motivates them? What kinds of causes do they care about? How do their needs align with what you offer? What would make this particular audience care about your brand? Do some research on your ideal user and then create a user persona for them. Not only will you get to know them better as people, but it’ll give you and your team a more empathetic and authentic perspective when writing copy and content for them. 2. Brand story Every superhero has a unique origin story. Does your brand have one? Keep in mind that a good brand story doesn’t always start at the company’s founding. Take Apple , for example. While the company made computers for decades, the rehiring of Steve Jobs and the launch of the iMac in 1998 changed the company’s direction and, arguably, the internet forever. If your brand doesn’t have a glamorous beginning, think back to when you fully realized your brand’s vision to impactfully change people’s lives. That’s your brand story . 3. Vision statement Have you ever heard of a vision or dream board before? Typically, you create them for your personal life, bringing together a collection of inspiring images and quotes. A brand vision statement works similarly, inspiring and motivating your employees or customers to work towards your company’s goals and values. While your vision statement will help you craft messaging about how your company sees the future, you can share with the world, too. For example, this is Coca-Cola’s Vision page: Its vision statement reads: “Our vision is to craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit. And done in ways that create a more sustainable business and better shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities and our planet.” 4. Mission statement Your mission statement tells how your brand’s actions today carry out its vision for tomorrow. Start by asking three key questions: What does your brand do? How does it do it? Why does it do what it does? This exercise gets to the root of your brand purpose and explains why customers will gravitate towards it. Here’s one from Dunkin' , so you can get a sense for what it sounds like: The mission statement reads: “FROM COFFEE BEANS TO JELLY FILLING Everything we do is about you. From chefs who create exciting new flavors, to crew members who know exactly how you want your drink—we prioritize what you need to get you on your way. We strive to keep you at your best, and we remain loyal to you, your tastes and your time. That’s what America runs on.” Want to get your customers on board with your mission? Make sure you write them into your statement, similar to how Dunkin’ has here. 5. Core values Consumers and employees both want to know that a brand stands for something more than just profitability. This is particularly true with younger generations, and an important consideration of Gen Z branding , to keep your core values at the forefront of every touchpoint. With a set of core values, you can demonstrate what your company believes in as well as what commitments it has made. Think of this like an official pledge or promise. You can even create a dedicated page on your website, the way Whole Foods has, breaking down the brand’s six core values: “We sell the highest quality natural and organic foods” “We satisfy and delight our customers” “We promote team member growth and happiness” “We practice win-win partnerships with our suppliers” “We create profits and prosperity” “We care about our community and the environment” If you check out Whole Foods’s Instagram page , for instance, you’ll see how their values impact their brand’s messaging: This post brings attention to Whole Foods’s commitment to selling natural foods as well as making its employees happy. 6. Unique value proposition The unique value proposition (UVP) states the benefits you—and only you—can bring to your customers’ lives. Before you come up with this, you’ll need to understand your brand’s positioning within the market. Do a SWOT analysis to figure out what differentiates your brand from the pack. Once you’ve highlighted your biggest differentiator and how it values your customers, you can create your UVP statement. The formula for this is simple: Who you help + How you do it + What the outcome is Slack crafts its value proposition around its impressive resume in the digital collaboration space: Its value proposition quickly explains the app’s function and touts the value for users: “Slack is the collaboration hub that brings the right people, information, and tools together to get work done. From Fortune 100 companies to corner markets, millions of people around the world use Slack to connect their teams, unify their systems, and drive their business forward.” When possible, include indisputable facts to back up your claim, similar to how Slack does here. That said, keep your unique value proposition free from fancy language or jargon. Focus on making it perfectly clear why your company is the best available option on the market. 7. Messaging pillars Your messaging pillars are your brand’s biggest selling points—the features or benefits that the competition doesn’t offer or can’t do as well as you. These pillars play an important role on your website and other marketing channels. Choose three brand pillars to focus your messaging around. Then, create a list of three to five talking points for each. Don’t mention your competition when writing these out; however, you can reference data that asserts your competitive advantage. This way, your team not only understands your competitive advantage, but can use it to reassure potential customers. The Honest Company has a page called “ The Honest Standard ”: The four points under “Our Honest Philosophy” function as the company’s brand pillars: “Protecting human health is our top priority.” “We won’t compromise performance.” “We’re thinking in the present and future tense.” “Knowledge is power.” In addition to using them to externally tout the benefits of your solution, documenting them in your brand messaging framework is important, too. Your employees will use this as a reference to learn about the brand and to memorize the talking points needed to support it. 8. Brand voice When it comes to writing copy and content for your brand, you’ll have to figure out how your brand should come across. In other words: What is the personality of the brand? What is the general tone and emotion of the brand messages? Is there a certain style of writing or language you’ll use to convey this? Consumers can tell a lot about a brand just by the way its messages sound. Old Spice , for example, has an approachable and amiable brand voice . Take a look at the copy highlighted on their homepage: “Get more awesomeness, good smellingness, and Old Spice exclusiveness than ever before.” Their brand’s personality is unmistakable and consistent across their website copy, product descriptions and even their Instagram feed . 09. Tagline A tagline is a permanent catchphrase that appears next to a brand’s logo or on product packaging and gives consumers a better idea of what the company does. But it’s not just explainer text. For example, consumers have remembered Bounty’s clever tagline, “The Quicker Picker Upper,” for decades. You don’t need a tagline for your company, but if you feel like it would be beneficial, then create one as part of your framework. It’ll need to be short—no more than seven or eight words—and written in your brand’s voice. Something worth mentioning here is that slogans are not taglines. Something like “The Quicker Picker Upper” is descriptive of Bounty’s product. A slogan like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” is not. Slogans are phrases or sentences used to increase the catchiness of a marketing or advertising campaign. While you can certainly start brainstorming examples of catchy slogans now, it’s best to save them for when you start writing your campaigns. 10. Elevator pitch The elevator pitch is the last piece to come up with. Consider this the culmination of your brand messaging framework. An elevator pitch is a succinct statement that argues why someone should buy your product and trust your brand. It’s that 30-60 second pitch that a salesperson would use to explain: Who they are What company they work for What they do Why the prospect should care What they’re going to get if they say “yes” If you want to see what a good elevator pitch looks like, go to a listings site and look up the highest rated lawyers, real estate agents, or service professionals there. You’ll see how the elevator pitch briefly sums up what the brand does before making it all about the customer. To write your elevator pitch, pull out the most compelling points from your framework. Together, they should remove all doubt from your customers’ minds. Write them out one by one. Then merge them together into two or three paragraphs. Next, make sure you've written your elevator pitch in your brand’s voice to elicit the right emotional response and action from whoever hears or reads it. You won’t use the elevator pitch in your brand messaging online, at least not in this lengthy form. That said, it’ll give your team a valuable bird’s-eye view of the brand and how to position it for maximum engagement and conversion. Tips for creating and using your brand messaging By creating an effective messaging strategy for both your internal and external communications and activities, you’ll build stronger relationships with everyone around and within your brand. But simply writing out your own framework isn’t enough. Here are some tips to help you get more out of it: Keep it simple You don’t have to have an outlandish personality or quirky voice to capture your audience’s attention. Brand messaging needs to be authentic to your unique brand for it to work. Make it align with your visuals Before you publish or share your brand messaging guidelines with anyone, make sure it aligns with your brand’s visual identity. Ideally, you’ll create the two simultaneously. If not, work with your designer to make sure the message and personality the imagery conveys also lines up with your brand’s language. Turn it into a centralized document Your brand messaging framework shapes how your brand communicates with the world. That said, those guidelines may change down the line, for instance if you rebrand the company . Just as formats like HEIC files offer flexibility for high-quality images, a centralized messaging framework can adapt and evolve with your communication needs over time. Include your brand message in all documentation Keep in mind that all company assets should consistently use your brand messaging: Design: Include sections at the front of your brand style guide that outline messaging elements like the mission statement, core values, and voice. Content: Your writing guideline documents should include your brand messaging as well. While your internal writing team may know your brand messaging inside and out, external contract writers may need more than just your spelling or jargon preferences to nail your voice and message. Promotions: Your marketing, sales and PR team will benefit from having your brand messaging in their documentation. The brand voice, tagline, and elevator pitch, in particular, can help create promotional campaigns. HR: Even your human resources personnel should have access to the brand messaging framework. Using brand messaging within job listings and in exchanges with candidates will help them hire better employees. Use brand messaging in your website and marketing channels Incorporate your brand messaging into your website, products and marketing channels. Just like improving visuals by knowing how to crop an image  or how to convert an image  for better performance, making your brand messaging part of everything you do helps keep your identity clear and consistent. Make your communications feel authentic by telling a consistent story about your brand, but don’t overdo it. Writing in a brand’s voice and style is different from using your brand messaging word-for-word in every interaction. Focus on capturing your brand’s personality and identity instead of repeating what’s in your framework. Consistency shows up in small but impactful ways—like the tone of your call-to-action buttons, the words in product descriptions or the look of your signage in a physical store. For example, a playful, bold brand might use quirky one-liners on packaging, attention-grabbing posters or clever labels on products to bring its personality to life. A luxury brand might reflect its elegance with refined typography and minimalistic layouts across email templates, print materials and decisions like how to make a banner . Learn more: How to make labels