Can You Separate the Visuals From Your Brand?

A prospective client recently asked me to help them with a brand building strategy, but they didn’t think they needed a logo and weren’t particularly interested in the visuals. They needed to hone in on their messaging and target audience—what were they saying, and to whom? This way of thinking was refreshing to me, as so many business owners think of the logo as their brand, and it is hard to explain that there is a lot of strategic thinking that needs to go into an effective brand strategy.

Even so, at first I was thrown off. For many years I identified my profession principally as a designer, although I have always taken a very informed approach to a brand strategy framework — researching and formulating marketing objectives, helping to develop messaging and positioning. All of this research, however, has been in partnership with the visuals. I never considered isolating this part and leaving the visual development off, or really, leaving the visuals as they were prior to the brand development.

The question is: Can you approach a brand building strategy without visuals?

I thought it would be an interesting approach, so I dove in. As I formulated all of the questions and went to work seeking answers, researching the company’s history and objectives, and looking at the competition, I kept stumbling on visuals. At every turn, whether it was in the way a document was formatted with font choices and styling, or social media posts that included photos or memes, there was no getting away from the visual aspect of any communication.

Coming back to my design roots, I had to respect the fact that, while it is clear that words communicate, unless you’re only doing radio and podcasting, there is no way around addressing the visuals of your brand. Even if you choose not to use images, words — when not in audio format — are written, and therefore visual.

It reminded me of a lesson given by one of my first teachers at Parsons School of Design, Ray Hooper (Senior Designer for Abrams Books at the time.) He was a wonderful teacher who made learning fun, yet instilled in us very important lessons. The first day of class he told us to look around the simple, stark classroom and choose anything we saw inside the room to focus our attention on. Anything at all, whether it was a window frame, a light fixture, a white board, or a chair. He told us to look at it closely. Then he made the point that no matter what the object, someone, at some time, designed it. Design is all around us — all the time! Every physical thing we interact with that has been created by humans, has been designed by humans!

I am called to revisit this early lesson as I chuckle at being lead so far astray as to think I could create a brand without considering the visuals. It turns out, you can’t. If you don’t consider the visuals, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any, it only means you did not take them into consideration when you put all of your hard work into the other components of your brand building strategy; your target audience, positioning, marketing messaging and content development. 

Another point comes from Master Marketer, Seth Godin as he says in Debbie Millman’s breakthrough book, Brand Thinking:

“The reason we keep refreshing the way so many things look is because of our ceaseless race to leverage the feelings of safety and nostalgia this old thing imparts, while simultaneously injecting a sense of newness to seduce us into reengaging in the experience.”

– Seth Godin

In other words, even successful, longstanding brands need to revisit not only their messaging, but their visual representation from time to time. It’s a huge part of what human beings respond to.

But Where and How do the Visuals Come into Play?

1. YOUR LOGO
Acknowledging the fact that a logo is not a brand, it would be a mistake to deem it a useless investment. Since it will be seen and used everywhere from the header of your website to your printed materials, social media pages and advertising, your logo is the ultimate visual representation of your brand. The meaning held in the symbolism of the object or letterform(s), the color choice(s) and the shape will all say something about your business’ values and personality.

2. YOUR DIGITAL IMAGERY
Do your website pages, social media posts, newsletters, blog stories and promotional materials use visuals? Are they as consistent in their look & feel as your messaging? This is critical to brand recognition, and too often overlooked.

3. YOUR IN-PERSON PRESENCE
From conventions and trade shows to in-person networking events, real live encounters are now coming back into play in the business world. You will have printed materials to hand out, displays for your booth and/or presentation materials that must be consistent with your brand in order to ensure people will remember you.

In conclusion, your visuals are the microphone through which your brand speaks. If the “sound” isn’t clear; if it crackles and squeaks, or muffles your voice, it doesn’t matter what you have to say, you will lose a large portion of your audience. If, on the other hand, it does what it is supposed to, all that will be heard is the clear, sweet sound of your newly branded voice.

I offer a number of approaches to take the next step in developing your brand, depending on your needs. If you’re ready, schedule your free, no obligation consultation today.

Images © 2021 Lindy Bostrom

SO YOU WANT TO GET YOUR WEBSITE OFF THE GROUND, get going with some social media activity and start networking more. You know you need to do these things to bring in more business, but you find yourself floundering every time you try to start.

What should you say?

Where should you post?

How much text is too much on your home page?

How do you reach out to people without seeming like a slimy salesperson?

If you find any of this familiar, you’re not alone. Many businesses are flying by the seat of their pajama bottoms when it comes to marketing. They post regularly to social media, send out monthly emails, throw all kinds of info on their websites, but they’re not seeing any real interest.

WHY? Should they post more often? Start making cold calls? Hire an expensive lead generation company? Start learning SEO?

Well, if you ask me, that’s putting the cart before the horse.

If you’re getting out there on a regular basis and your marketing isn’t working, chances are it’s not because you’re not doing enough of it. It’s because you really don’t have a brand. There, I said it. It’s BRANDING.

Before I offer a breakdown on the meaning of this ubiquitous word, let me share with you what a brand is not, despite rampant consensus otherwise:

A Brand is Not:
• A logo
• A set of company typefaces or fonts
• A color palette
• A folder of photos shot by a pro
• A collection of templates
• A tagline or mission statement

After more than 20 years working with clients on promotional materials, I have come up with an easy-to-follow, 4-step formula for getting a handle on your brand (and marketing!)

4 Steps to Better Branding:

1. WHO: Know Who You’re Talking to
2. WHAT: Know What You’ve Got That Others Don’t
3. WHY: Give them a reason; Tell a Story That’s About Them, Not You
4. HOW: Make a Clear, Specific Offer

Here’s the juice:

A Brand is an experience.

When someone has an exceptional experience, they remember it. They talk about it. They return for more.

Yes, it’s that simple. But as a beloved mentor once told me, “Simple is not easy. Don’t confuse the two!” The question is, how do you create an experience that your prospects and customers are going to talk about?

Here are the 4 steps in more detail:

1. Know Who You’re Talking to

Known as your “Target Audience,” the ideal customer for your business is not going to be everyone. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you could lose business if you zone in on a specific type of customer, thus losing potential customers that don’t fit the profile. As Seth Godin says: “Trying to please everyone is a race to the bottom.” Gone is the time when businesses catered to everybody. Even “one size fits most” has become a lie. We have Google. We want exactly what we want, not something kind of like it! Find your Niche! And if you need some help with that, check out my Marketing Mentor, Ilise Benun’s Pick a Niche Kit. It’ll help you focus in on your ideal customers.

BUYER PERSONAS
Once you start evaluating who your #1 target is, then you can start to imagine you’re talking to them in a live conversation. That’s when the words will start to flow. Creating Buyer Personas is a great way to create messaging that prompts your readers to take action. You can get a free download of my Buyer Persona Workbook just for opting in to my mailing list.

2. Know What You’ve Got That Others Don’t

What sets you apart from others that are also doing what you do? This is what I call your “Unique Value Proposition.” The important thing here is not to get clever. Most people instinctively know what is unique about their offering. And the truth is, even if you tried to be just like someone else, you couldn’t. You and your business are unique. You just need to uncover what it is.

3. Tell a Story That’s About Them, Not You

How many websites have you visited that go on & on about what they do, their experience, the details of their products or services, their history, bla bla bla bla bla…NEXT! My eyes are getting that glazed-over Google-search fatigue just thinking about it.

What if you got to a website that was about YOU? Where you said to yourself: “That’s ME!” That’s what I’m looking for/need/want…or the exact problem I’m trying to solve!” Now you’re interested & engaged, right?

The story starts with the problem your prospective customer (your Target Audience) has. Then you swoop in with a solution. The story ends with a satisfied customer – and an offer to join the club.

4. Make a Clear, Specific Offer

Don’t underestimate the offer! Nothing is more frustrating than deciding that you want to buy and not being able to find the opt-in button or what to do next to get to the offer. You could get them right to the finish line and lose them—it happens all the time!

Make sure you’re crystal clear with your “Call To Action” – spell it out so a 2-year-old would know what to do.

So that, my friend, is branding in a nutshell. The 4 steps come first. Once you have that, the colors, fonts, logo and messaging fall into place and reflect what you’ve built as the foundation.

Want to take a deeper dive into setting that foundation? If you are a small business in health & wellness struggling with too little return on your marketing efforts, this is for you. I offer customized Branding Program Packages, depending on where you’re at in the game. Take a look, then give me a holler & we can get started. Your marketing strategy will be happy you did.

Lindy Bostrom officially launched Bostrom Graphics in 2003 in California after working for more than a decade as an Art Director and Graphic Designer in NYC. Bostrom Graphics develops branding and marketing strategies for small businesses. We have vital interests in working with businesses with humanitarian causes, health & wellness, and advocates for freedom of expression using mediums like filmmaking, writing and public speaking.

We take pride in maintaining the highest level of integrity and accountability in building trusting, growth-oriented relationships.