Sustainable brand identity: beyond visuals
In the previous story on positive impact brands, we talked about branding in a broad sense. We talked about building and managing sustainable, positive-impact brands. In this story, we focus on brand identity.
How can we design a sustainable brand identity?
From brand strategy to verbal and visual identity
As we discussed in the previous story 'Branding for Positive Impact Brands', a brand is much more than a name and a symbol. Building and maintaining a particular brand involves building and maintaining relationships in a particular way. These relationships can be with our customers, but also with other organizations and people, such as those who are part of the brand itself and work within it.
We also talked about how a sustainable brand must be based on a sustainable purpose, business model and actions. In order to have a truly sustainable, relevant and enduring brand identity, this entire brand strategy must be thought through in detail.
Then we talked about the products and services we offer as a brand. Are they aligned with our strategy? Do they generate a positive perception in our audiences, and therefore contribute to reinforce our brand identity? Are they sustainable and aligned with our values and purpose?
To help you with all this, you can use the tools of the "EXPLORE" and "ACTIVE" levels of our Creative Regeneration methodology. You will be able to work from the exploration of your ecosystem and your context to understand the relationships of your brand, to the definition of your communication strategy.
Once the strategy is defined, we move on to the brand identity, that is, the tangible part with all its sensory aspects. We say "sensory" because they go beyond the visual. A brand identity is not only what you see, it is also what you hear, touch, taste, smell... We usually talk about verbal identity and visual identity. These two parts are the most commonly worked on in brands. In other words, it is not only about how it looks (the visual), but also about what the brand says, how it speaks to its audiences.
Sustainable brand identity applications
When defining our brand identity, we must also take into account where this identity will be applied, i.e. the touch points. They can be physical (from people to printed materials or packaging), digital (website, apps, social networks...) or both. For all touchpoints, we must consider their impact in order to design and implement a sustainable brand identity.
On how to design sustainable brand applications, both physically and digitally, we will delve deeper in upcoming stories(keep up to date!).
To help you with all this, you can use the tools of the "IMPULSA" level of our Creative Regeneration methodology. They can help you define the different touch points through which your stakeholders interact with your brand. You can define which touch points your brand will have and design how the brand identity is applied in each of them.
A Regenerative Brand Design Solution
To build brands that really make a positive impact, we have packaged our services into one solution: Regenerative Branding.
The process we followed in developing this solution is as follows:
(1) Understand your ecosystem and your environment.
First, we explore your brand's ecosystem and context. What is happening in your environment and what you could make happen. Who do you relate to and who could you relate to as a brand. How will you position yourself as a brand in this context?
(2) Purpose.
Secondly, we try to understand your brand internally. What are your values and your purpose. Who you are and who you want to be as a brand.
(3) Value proposition and regenerative brand promise.
Then we work on how that essence and purpose can be translated into concrete actions and communication. We work on your value proposition, to make it attractive and sustainable. What you offer and how you tell the world.
(4) Personality.
Once you have studied your environment and your target audiences, defined your purpose and your value proposition, it is time to position yourself in the world with your brand personality. How your brand is and acts.
(5) Verbal identity.
What your brand says, and how it says it. Naming is a very important part of verbal identity, but there is much more to it: verbal communication style, slogans, claims or messages and keywords.
It is important to work on our verbal identity so that it is inclusive and accessible, and promotes sustainability. What messages do we send to the world? What kind of behaviors do they promote? Are we reinforcing stereotypes or leaving out any groups?
(6) Visual identity.
How your brand looks. The "logo" is a very important part of the visual identity, but there is much more: visual style, use of fonts and colors, photographs, icons or illustrations can be part of this visual universe.
It is important to work on our visual identity in a way that is inclusive, accessible and with minimum environmental impact. What images do we launch into the world? What kind of culture do they promote? How much ink and how much energy do we need to materialize our visual identity?
(7) Brand manual.
A manual that reflects all the previous work, from the most strategic to the most tangible aspects. Including, of course, sustainability recommendations.
Builda brand with a positive impact and make it evolve prosperously.
