What do you need to do to create brand awareness?

Branding

Every Company has a company name, most company names end up being the "brand" as well. Although some companies have a range of brands under the single umbrella of their Company name.

Identity

Every Brand needs to have its own identity, its own point of difference. Why is your brand/company different to the others?  How do you stand out? This is the difference between good design and bad design, and why graphic designers exist. Make yourself identifiable for what you do and who you are.

Research

You need to be aware of what your competitors are doing, not that you want to copy them, in fact it's the opposite - you want to look better than them and nothing like them.

Awareness

What your aim should be is for your customers to remember your brand. The purpose of advertising your brand (company name) is to increase awareness in the market. So your advertising should be targeting a specific market.

Once your brand awareness reaches the stage where people buy your brand because its ‘you', you know that your marketing has worked.

Brand loyalty

The idea is for people to become a repeat customer of your product or service, you want people to be committed to continually buying your brand - this shows the brand value. This will not happen purely because of the branding, it will be a combination of the recognition of the brand, quality of the product/service and the service they get from you as a company.

The brand is just the bait on the hook - there are no promises that you'll catch a fish.

Logo's and tag lines

Your company name is your brand. Your logo and the way you present yourself to the market says a lot about you.

• Why have you called yourself what you have?
• Is it faddy?
• Do you have a logo? (image or word?)
• What does your company name mean - it doesn't have to mean anything.
• Talk about Garnish and what it means - finishing touches/presentation/style
  

Logo's work! Whether it is an actual word or an image - this is what the customer will associate with initially when they are looking for a product/service.

Logos like Macdonalds, Coca Cola, Ford, Australia Post, Shell Petrol, Target are all known for who they are because of their logo. These brands work - people associate with them - they know them, they TRUST them = bingo - repetitive and loyal client base.

Type face is vital to hitting your target market. You might be an antique store, so you might choose to use a more traditional font, but if you are a web designer you would choose a funkier/more contemporary font. The colours you choose are also very important.

Red is one of the most popular logo colours - it stands out and generally can be the spot colour in an advert without too much extra cost. Complementary colours should be considered. Yellow and purple are complementary colours. Moods you are trying to inspire should be considered. Red = anger. Blue = calm

Once you have chosen your logo - stick to it. Don't change it. Continuity is so important in marketing. Everything you send out from your company - from invoices, comp slips, letter & presentation folders, to the boxes the goods come in should bear your brand.