Creating a brand persona in 3 steps
Developing your brand's persona or your own personal brand requires a bit of creative brainstorming and introspection.
Once you are familiar with your own goals, you can move forward with fleshing out the brand persona that is most fitting for your business and its customers.
1. Determine your company values
What makes your business and brand stand out? Does your company offer something unique that helps to set it apart from the rest of the market you represent? Why should customers turn to your brand over existing companies? Is your company aligned with specific political values or goals? If so, how can you work this to your advantage when it comes to attracting new followers or customers?
Determining your company values and knowing what it is that you want to achieve with your brand goes a long way in developing a brand persona from scratch.
2. Know your customers
Getting to know your customers is also key when you are building a brand from the ground up, regardless of the products or services you are providing.
Who are the customers that are interested in what it is that you have to offer and align with your brand values? What demographics are most likely to find your products and services interesting or useful? Ask yourself the following questions in your quest to learn more about your target audience of customers:
- Age: What ages am I targeting with the products or services I offer?
- Gender: Am I interested in appealing to a particular gender, or are my products and services suitable for all?
- Location: Is it important for me to appeal to a certain region or zone based on where my products and services are useful?
Once you have a deeper understanding of your customer's wants and needs, you can then use your brand's persona to appeal to them on a more personal level. Incorporating your brand's persona and personality traits into your marketing efforts can significantly impact the level of engagement you receive during each of your launched campaigns. Knowing when to use the appropriate branding voices while attempting to generate sales can help you to attract customers while building brand loyalty over time.
3. Find a symbol that captures the values of your company and customers
Before you launch any business to the public, it is imperative to have a professionally designed logo that best represents what your business has to offer as well as your designated brand persona. Spend time researching existing popular logos, logo design trends, and symbols that are most relevant to your own type of business.
Finding or creating the perfect logo is not always an instantaneous process. In fact, you may need some time to work with a professional designer to find a symbol that is ideal for representing your business and the type of consumers you are trying to reach.
If you are unsure of where to begin when it comes to selecting a logo, consider some of the following existing examples to help with drumming up a bit of inspiration:
McDonald's Arch
The McDonald's "M" Arch is one of the most well-known logos used across the US and in hundreds of countries across the world. The golden arches are used to represent "McDonald's", but they are recognizable from miles away.
Starbucks
The Starbucks logo is also infamous and is known around the globe as a woman who appears as a mermaid. While there is no specific link between a mermaid and Starbucks drinks, the image of the mermaid is unique enough with the logo's two-tone simplistic design that it stands out amongst other top coffee competitors.
Domino's
When you think of Domino's, you may think of the dominos game or you may think of Domino's pizza. For Domino's pizza they are in luck. The Domino's pizza logo uses a red and blue domino piece to represent the name of the pizza chain as well as the blue and red colors used for its brand persona.
Google
Google often changes its logo, but sticks to using primary colors, including red, green, blue, and yellow. While the logo has changed and shifted throughout the years, the color consistency has helped Google to remain identifiable.