Mining the Past to Create a Client’s Brand Identity
- What made them get started with the product or company?
- What did they imagine success would look like?
- What have they built to achieve their vision of success?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you can begin to build a new brand identity for your client.
#Three creative approaches to build brand identity
Chart growth - one of the best ways to position your client’s branding is to show customers how much - and in all the different ways - they’ve grown. Many service-oriented corporations now sell themselves as champions of diversity, capitalizing on a chance to send the message that they’re growth-oriented. Conversely, whiskey companies highlight how long their product has been churning out of the same oaken barrels for hundreds of years to illustrate their endurance. If your client has done things they should be proud of, why not make it a feature of their story? Experience matters. It has its own value and there shouldn’t be any fear in highlighting it within a campaign.
Remember what your client’s all about - delving into the past can help your client reconnect with their roots and remember why they got started on their capitalistic endeavor in the first place. Major brands already do this, which is why every once in a while, brands like McDonalds and Budweiser will have some retro campaign. There’s often simplicity in reminding people that all they want to do is just make a burger or a beer that someone will enjoy, especially when ads are becoming increasingly politicized, scrutinized, and despised. Going back to your client’s roots can remind you of their message and their good intentions, and remind you that your job is to find a new way to communicate it.
Remember what you’re all about - when you get stuck and ideas aren’t flowing, you can always try to go back to your own company’s history for inspiration. Was starting your company or taking your current job an attempt to prove yourself? Commit to being a force for good in the world? Trample your enemies? Whatever the reason, you can remember why you’re doing this and use that headspace to find something in your client’s product that resonates with you and fits in with your own tale.
And on a general note, maybe it’s a good idea for all of us to take a few moments to look at our own pasts to appreciate the simpler aspects of ourselves, as well as how much we’ve grown.
If you’re a client looking for a marketing company that can build your future brand identity from your roots, then get in touch. We’d love to chat.
