Branding is perception; and because human beings majorly make decisions based on what they see and feel, the subject of branding for a fashion business cannot be overflogged.
Understanding branding might take time to learn but once understood, it cannot be taken away.
It is always said that if you want to learn from a man, read his book, but these days you just need to watch his youtube videos.
We’ll be learning a lot more about branding from Mash Bonigala, who is a positioning strategist and brand identity specialist. He shares with us in this video how he built a fashion luxury brand and every step he went through to create a succesful brand.
The value proposition
Before going any further with your branding, the first thing to be sorted out is knowing what your brand is offering. This is a big determinant of the type of brand you will end up building and your target audience too.
According to Mash, when you are approaching the market with your value proposition and trying to differentiate yourself from other brands in the market, there are three ways to go about it.
- You can come to your customers saying “I have a premium product to sell, one that is expensive but will definitely stand you out”.
- You can decide to make use of less expensive and more effective production methods, and offer your products to the masses.
- You can focus on a customer relation-based value proposition. That is, solving the customer’s direct needs.
Which ever you decide to use, it has to fit correctly with the brand you have in mind.
Brand Name Development
Most times, we come up with the names for the brand before anything else, but Mash says it is generally better to come up with this after concluding on your value proposition. This gives you the opportunity to choose a name that truly reflects your brand values and that tells your story.
In picking a name, it is important to make sure that your brand name is embodied with meaning and your consumers can get a glimpse of your brand values from your name.
It is okay to pick the brand name first, but it is not the best practice. A good example of a Nigerian brand whose name depicts their brand essence is Orange Culture. Your brand name should be easy to prounounce, unique, strong and brandable.
Brand Identity
Once the name and brand story have been sorted out, you can go on to create the brand’s visual language starting with the primary brand mark – The Logo. The logo has to be a proper represention of the brand.
For a classy and luxurious brand like ‘Elegore‘, Spellbrand was able to come up with a logo that was a symbol of ‘rising to luxury’. Logos should be simple (not overwhelming) and easy to relate with. A complex design can lose your consumers while they are trying to decipher what it means.
The logo created will then be used to create other brand identity elements like, business cards, letter heads, email signatures, and other brand merchandise. It is advisable for all these elements to have the same look, since they are all a part of one story; this is called creating a brand pattern. You can create an amazing and relatable brand pattern affordable here.
The brand pattern should be simple and consistent and must exude the perception you want your audience to have of your brand.
Online Presence
The online look also has to be consistent with brand pattern and brand feel. The language, fonts and designs on the website and social media pages all have to be consistent and relatable to your audience. Mash emphasises the importance of investing in good product photos. In his words, “Money invested in product photos is money well spent”.
Since ‘perception’ is the name of the game, investing in good pictures of your products will definitely give your consumers a good ‘vibe’.
For any business, the vibe your audience gets about your brand goes a long way in influencing their decision making. Therefore, investing in building a good brand will definitely payoff eventually.Like 0
