BRAND AND DESIGN

Christina Holloway
THE 3 ELEMENTS OF A BRAND EXPERIENCE
➤ Your business name
➤ Your business logo
➤ Your brand identity
WHAT IS A BRAND?
➤ It is common for CEOs and entrepreneurs to use the terms “name,” “logo,” and
“brand” interchangeably. While your name identifies your company in words, and
your logo identifies it through images, your brand is the perception of your company
created in the consumer’s mind that is triggered by seeing your name and logo.
➤ That perception is created through the experiences that people have with your
company, its values, and its culture at any and all touch points—whether it’s your
advertising, sales people, customer service, website, product packaging, in the board
room, or what employees experience within the walls of your office.
➤ As such, you should consider the terms “brand” and “brand experience” to be
synonymous because it’s the experience with your brand that makes (or breaks) it.
YOUR BUSINESS NAME
➤ Should be easily spelled, pronounced, and available (as in trademark and URL)
➤ Names with multiple words tend to be less memorable
➤ Can describe your product or service but doesn’t have to
➤ If you do a good enough job building your brand, the world will know what you
do and what you stand for … Apple, Google, or Amazon
YOUR BUSINESS LOGO
➤ The graphics, color palette and texture/feel that you choose matter! They should
capture and reflect the personality and values of your brand.
➤ Make it recognizable and memorable. This is important in a cluttered world of
symbols and icons.
➤ Ask yourself …
➤ Does the logo look like us?
➤ Does it feel right?
➤ Does it convey the personality of our brand visually and emotionally?
CREATE A NAME AND LOGO THAT ARE REFLECTIVE OF YOUR BRAND VALUES
➤ Is your name easily spelled, pronounced, and available?
➤ Is it short, concise, and memorable?
➤ Does your logo reflect the personality and values of your brand?
➤ Ask yourself, does the logo look like us? Does it feel right?

➤ REMEMBER: don’t overthink it and don’t make it complicated

YOUR BRAND IDENTITY
➤ Communicate the customer promise
➤ Create the brand voice
➤ Deliver the brand experience
THE CUSTOMER PROMISE
➤ Great brands share four fundamental qualities:
➤ Offer and communicate a clear and relevant customer promise.
➤ Build trust by delivering on that promise.
➤ Drive the market by continually improving on that promise.
➤ Seek further advantage by innovating beyond the familiar.

Source: HBR
THE BRAND VOICE
➤ What is your brand story and how does it resonate with your target customer?
➤ Your brand should have an identity (who is it), a personality (how it behaves), and
experience (how it’s remembered)
➤ What would your brand sound like if you had a conversation with it?
➤ How would your brand introduce itself? If it had to describe its appearance, how
would it do so?
➤ How would your brand talk about your products or services? Would it be serious
and professional, or would it be humorous and edgy?
➤ What would someone say about your brand after “meeting” it for the first time?
What are a few sentences they’d use to describe it?
Source: Hubspot
THE BRAND EXPERIENCE
➤ The brand and the consumer play equal roles in influencing the brand.
➤ Brands in today’s marketplace are required to be relevant, useful, and entertaining.
➤ A brand’s meaning stems not just from how the company positions the brand, but
also from how consumers experience it.
➤ Brands are no longer tokens of culture and lifestyle. They are now tools that allow
people to practice a certain culture or lifestyle.
➤ Consumers today do not just use brands to denote something; they use brands to
become someone.

Source: HBR
ASK YOURSELF …
➤ Business Name
➤ What are the unique values of the business?
➤ Business Logo
➤ How will we create a brand and logo that stand out and are reflective of our brand
values?
➤ Brand Identity
➤ How will the business be consistent in what we promise and how we deliver on
that promise?
➤ How will we create and integrate our company’s distinct brand voice (our story)?
➤ How will we show up in the community to further the conversation in our field?
RESOURCES
➤ The Ultimate Guide to Branding in 2020 - Hubspot
➤ The One Thing You Must Get Right When Building a Brand - Harvard Business
Review
➤ The Ways Customers Use Products Have Changed — But Brands Haven’t Kept Up -
Harvard Business Review

➤ For more information on how to create a profitable brand, download my ebook here
to get on the email list for more tips on effective branding:
https://christinaholloway.com/profitable-brand-ebook/