How to create a memorable brand for your business

Every business needs to build a strong brand to succeed. Creating a memorable brand will help your business stand out from the competition and create a loyal customer base.

What is a brand?

A brand helps give a business a distinctive identity and differentiate it from competitors. It provides guidelines that govern a business’s marketing approach and may incorporate a logo, name or slogan. Building a memorable brand can help your business gain a good reputation. This can encourage repeat business and increase the likelihood of customers recommending your goods or services to others.

How to brand your business in seven steps

Whatever type of business you run, building a strong brand identity is key to helping it succeed. Below, we’ve outlined seven steps to help you do this. 

1. Identify your audience

Start by thinking about your ideal customers. Understanding who they are is the key to creating the right branding. 

A good way to do this is to create buyer personas, imaginary characters that represent your customers. When creating buyer personas, consider factors such as your customers’ age, income, occupation, interests, and location. This exercise will help you speak their language and better understand how to appeal to them. 

2. Research your competitors 

You also need to research competitor brands, examining their strengths and weaknesses. Look at competitors’ website branding and social media platforms to understand their tone of voice and brand messaging. Think about what works and what doesn’t. Doing this can help you better assess what might work for your business and how to distinguish yourself from your competitors. 

3. Decide your brand’s voice and personality

Next, think about your brand’s personality. A good place to start is to write down adjectives that describe your company’s character. Examples might include trustworthy, adventurous, youthful, approachable or modern. 

Also, think about your brand story – in other words, the story you want to tell your customers. It should include your business’s core values and your mission statement (a short description of why your business exists and its goals).  

All of this can help you to create your brand voice and tone. Consider how you want your customers to feel when they interact with your brand. Your target audience will also influence your brand voice. For instance, more colloquial language may be appropriate if you want to appeal to a younger audience.

4. Choose your business name

Choosing a company name can be a lot of fun, but it's also important to get it right. Your business name needs to be unique and distinguishable from existing businesses. Before you settle on anything, it's worth doing a Google search and checking the Companies House register for a list of companies with similar names to make sure your name can't be confused with theirs.

Tips

• Your business name should align with your brand personality and values

• Think about blending two words into one (e.g. Netflix)

• Make up a new word (e.g. Adidas)

• Use folklore or literature to help inspire you

• Create an acronym from a longer name

• Alter a word by changing its spelling or removing or adding letters (e.g. Tumblr)

5. Create a catchy slogan

Once you’ve chosen your business name, it’s time to create a short, catchy slogan. The right slogan can help boost brand awareness and ensure customers recognise your business even when the brand name itself isn’t visible – think of Nike’s “Just Do It.” slogan.

Tips

• Describe what your business does

• Use power words or phrases such as ‘Do it’ or ‘Happy’

• Try a catchy rhyme.

• Incorporate your company’s benefits – e.g. helping to reduce carbon emissions

6. Design your brand’s logo

A logo is often the first thing your customers will see. Creating a unique representative design will help build brand awareness and make a great first impression. It’s worth looking at existing brand logos for inspiration, but make sure your logo includes your brand’s personality and identity. 

When designing your logo, think about the colours you want to use. It’s best to start with no more than three colours and consider how they will appear on both a dark and light background. Consider which colours work well together and will help your brand stand out. 

You also need to find a typeface that matches your brand style. A bold font can indicate strength, while a script version suggests a lively and fun-loving brand. Look at the free options on Google Fonts as a starting point. 

7. Apply your brand across your business

Finally, ensure you apply your branding across your entire business: your company website, social media accounts, advertising, packaging and email marketing. Repetition and consistency will help to establish your brand and set your business up for success.