Brand identity may seem simple at first glance—as simple as a TV ad featuring a rosy-cheeked Santa Claus drinking Coca-Cola, a knowing twinkle in his eye. Yet, often, the more a brand’s presentation seems simple and memorable, the more effort has gone into understanding and addressing the different levels of brand identity.
Whether you’re running an international powerhouse corporation like Coke or building a local brand from the ground up, understanding the three main levels of brand identity is essential.
The three levels of brand identity include:
- Customers
- Internal work culture
- Leadership
Each level plays a crucial role in shaping how your brand is perceived and can ultimately impact the success of your business.
Brand Identity Level 1: The Customer
When effective business leaders think of brand identity and brand voice, the first consideration that springs to mind will inevitably be the customer. That’s because a brand forms a critical touchpoint between companies and customers who would benefit from the solutions they offer.
How you present yourself through visuals, tone of voice, and other branding considerations form the basis of every first impression a customer has with your product or service—at which point they’ll either decide to click through to a landing page or click away to a competitor.
At the customer level, your brand messaging and voice must convey trust, authority, and innovation. Those who ultimately convert from potential leads to brand-loyal customers will feel confident investing in your brand, knowing you’re a leader in your industry and constantly evolving to meet their needs.
There’s no need to constantly reinvent the wheel once you’ve produced a quality solution that benefits your customers. But brand identity and brand voice give you a chance to distinguish yourself from competing brands in the customer’s eyes.
Show customers you, more than anyone else in your industry, understand their unique pain points, share their perspective, and that you’re there to help. Consistent messaging showcases your expertise and commitment to excellence. This helps you build a strong and lasting relationship with your customers.
Best Practices for Customer Brand Messaging:
- Develop a strong brand voice that resonates with your customers. This is where the rubber meets the road. Voice, style, word choice, and how you convey purpose and intent connect with your audience or brand personas.
- Create content that provides value to customers and positions your brand as a trusted resource. Once you’ve developed your brand voice, use that voice to create content that reaches your target audience. With a consistent and trustworthy brand voice, begin to produce blogs, landing pages, case studies, and other types of content that resonate and reach customers organically through search engines, social media, and other delivery methods.
- Use storytelling to connect emotionally with your customers and showcase the human side of your brand. Great stories are built of carefully considered words and ideas that instill trust and connect to the human experience. Your brand’s story is no different. It’s a chance to present your value proposition and show who you are with a relatable narrative.
Brand Identity Level 2: Internal Work Culture
Building a strong core brand messaging can have a substantial impact on internal work culture among your employees. It influences how your team interacts with their coworkers and how they communicate about your company with clients or customers.
The way your employees understand and communicate your brand identity and voice can have a significant impact on customer experience.
That’s why it’s crucial to align internal messaging with external brand image to ensure consistency and authenticity. The most effective way is to focus on an internal work culture that motivates employees with a positive shared work experience, engaging them with the brand in ways that help them feel connected to it, with a clear and consistent brand voice, image, and messaging framework that translates across departments.
Best Practices for Internal Work Culture Messaging:
- Foster a company culture that reflects your brand values and mission. If your brand values include collaboration and inclusion, these should be emphasized and fostered in workers’ day-to-day experience with the company.
- Provide training and resources to help employees understand and effectively communicate your brand identity. Brand guidelines should be clear, consistent, and accessible to all company employees. Changes to brand guidelines should be clearly communicated.
- Encourage open communication and feedback to ensure alignment between internal and external messaging. When employees feel heard and that their needs are being met, they’re more likely to engage with the brand in a positive way and carry that into their external communications.
Brand Identity Level 3: CEO or Leadership Identity
No CEO should want to be the sole voice of their company—and a founder’s story should never translate directly to a brand story. Yet, the personal brand story of your CEO and other leadership can impact how your brand is perceived.
At the end of the day, customers tend to associate a brand with its leaders, and their reputation can impact trust and reliability.
The way your executive team communicates publicly can shape the brand identity, be that through public appearances, interviews, or even something as simple as social media engagement.
Best Practices for Executive Brand Messaging
- Develop a personal brand for your CEO and other company leaders. Ensure it aligns with your brand’s values and vision. Show how your leaders’ strengths, values, and unique stories reflect the mission and purpose of the company?
- Encourage thought leadership and industry involvement to position your leaders as experts in their field. Associating your leaders with an innovative brand message helps establish trust and name recognition with your leaders and shows how they embody brand identity.
- Use personal storytelling to humanize your leadership team and build connections with customers. Don’t lock your executives away in an ivory tower. Build a personal brand story that shows the values they share with your customers; lead with the human element.
Need Help with Your Brand Identity and Brand Voice? Content Workshop Has You Covered
Refining brand identity across these three levels takes time and consistent effort. If your company needs help bringing your brand to life, Content Workshop’s experienced team of marketers and storytellers can be a valuable resource.
Content Workshop can help you clarify your messaging, develop a cohesive brand voice, and ensure that your brand identity is effectively communicated to customers.
Contact Content Workshop today to learn how we can help you craft the perfect brand identity.
