Brand Development: Four Integral Pieces of a Branding Kit
45% of marketers believe increasing brand awareness is the top priority for businesses in 2022. One way to boost consumers' awareness and understanding of your brand is with a brand kit.
Brand kits are essential to both product development and business development. They lay out the visual elements of your company. And they are critical for building a consistent message.
At Milk & Bull, we specialize in all things product branding and consumer goods packaging. That is why we wanted to bring you this guide to the essential elements and benefits of branding kits.
So, if you want to know what the experts think about creating brand kits in 2022, keep reading this guide.
But First: What Is a Brand Kit?
A brand kit or brand identity kit is a resource listing all the requirements for a consistent business brand.
Employees use these resources. For example, your marketing team might use your brand kit when creating promotional material. Or your product development team might use these resources when developing your product.
Members of the media and the general public will also reference your brand kit when they want to talk about your brand.
Brand Kits vs. Brand Guidelines
Brand guidelines or style guides can also help maintain consistency when marketing your business. So, how do they differ from brand kits?
Brand guidelines set the standard for your brand's voice and style. This might include key phrases to use in blog articles or details about your brand that should always show up in your content.
A brand kit, on the other hand, determines the visual elements that distinguish your business. A branding kit can be part of your brand guidelines. But they are still two separate things.
4 Branding Kit Essentials
Brand kits can include a wide array of visuals. But companies most commonly sell four essentials in a brand kit: logos, fonts, color palettes, and graphics.
Keep reading to learn about each of these branding kit essentials. We will also discuss the research behind why companies need these tools to thrive.
1. Brand Logo
Studies show that logos have a positive effect on customer loyalty. Branded logos can also have a direct impact on the company's overall financial performance.
But just any logo is not sufficient to produce these effects. You need to design a logo that gives off the image and perception you want customers to have of your company or product.
For instance, a 2016 study found that logo shapes influence consumer perceptions of a company. Round-shaped logos give off a soft vibe. Meanwhile, angular logos represent firmness.
A rounded logo would work great for a non-profit or healthcare company. But law firms and cybersecurity service providers might prefer to use a logo with more angles.
Another consideration when designing your logo is the type. Logo designers generally distinguish between the following seven types of logos:
Emblems: These logos include words, symbols, or images inside a colorful geometric shape and are perfect for conservative, traditional brands
Pictorials: These logos only include a single image like Twitter's bird or Apple's Apple
Logotypes: Also known as wordmarks, these logos feature the company or brand's name
Monograms: Also known as lettermarks, these logos feature the company or brand name's acronym, like HBO for Home Box Office or LV for Louis Vuitton
Abstract Logos: These logos feature a textless image that gives off the general vibe or feel of the brand
Mascot Logos: These logos showcase the company or brand mascot like Wendy's Wendy or Reddit's Bot
Combination Logos: As the name suggests, these logos include multiple types of logos in one
Your logo will incorporate your brand color palette, and if you choose a logo with text, your branded font. We are talking about these aspects of a brand kit next.
2. Brand Font
Font or typography refers to the way your brand's letters look. That might mean the letters or text in your logo. But companies also use their branded fonts in marketing copy and packaging development.
Most brands choose more than one font. Yet, be careful not to pick too many fonts as this could give off an indecisive or even chaotic feel. Two or three branded fonts are usually sufficient.
And as with logos, there is a plethora of research explaining why branded typography is so important. For example, a 2021 study found that fonts impact how consumers perceive a brand's identity. Here's how.
Firstly, a font's physical appearance gives off a more explicit message. A text's heaviness, contrast with its background, and height can give consumers a good or bad feeling about your brand.
Secondly, the subtle signs or symbols within a font give off a subconscious, more intrinsic message to consumers. And the study found that incorporating these subtle symbols can change the way consumers perceive the font's physical appearance.
Further, it is also important to consider a font's readability. The last thing you want to do is confuse your customers because they do not know what your branded message says.
3. Brand Color Palette
Iconic brands have iconic color palettes. When you think Facebook (now Meta), you think blue and white. When you think Google, you think of a primary-plus green rainbow.
Like logos and fonts, branded colors shape consumers' perception of your company or product. But that is not all. The right color palette can also enable consumers to more quickly and easily identify your products.
Considering that colors have a strong impact on mood, this should be no wonder. The theory that colors impact peoples' psychology is known as color psychology. This theory says the following about our favorite hues:
Red boosts attention and athletic performance while decreasing cognitive performance and perception of non-aggressiveness
Blue increases alertness, trustworthiness, and perception of quality
The color red is also a great choice for food and beverage businesses. That is because research shows that red may increase appetite for food and drink.
We also tend to associate words like confidence and success with orange. Green offers nature vibes, communicates freshness, and even promotes perceptions about healing and growth. Yellow is the color for creativity.
If you want to learn more about color psychology, check out this guide from Mountain Vista Psychology.
4. Brand Graphics
Branded graphics are the images that set you apart from the competition. They are unique and recognizable to your brand. And they typically consist of your brand's logo, typography, and color palette wrapped up in one.
These graphics often look a lot like combination logos. That is because they typically include the logo plus the brand's name and maybe a few additional words to describe the company or product.
Branded graphics can show up on your website or product packaging. They can display on your company's fleet of vehicles. Or you can use them in media posts about your brand or product.
Graphics are one of the most flexible items in your brand kit as they have many different use cases.
Want to see some of our branded graphics in action? Check out our case studies to view the brand kits we have designed for our clients.
The Benefits of Branding in Product Development
Studies show that brands have an average of 7 seconds to make an impression on a prospective customer before that person loses interest. You can make those 7 seconds count with a properly branded product.
But why else is branding so critical for businesses? Here are some of the top benefits of brand development:
Customers are more likely to recognize your product and pay attention to your marketing because of it
Customers are more likely to feel loyal to your products because they connect with your brand on an emotional level
You and your employees will know how to represent your brand and products consistently in marketing materials and the media
Customers are more likely to think your product is credible because of the values your branding communicates
Customers are more likely to see your product as differentiated from the competition's
All these factors result in one major overarching benefit: you can sell more products to your loyal audience because they recognize and trust your brand. In fact, consistent branding could boost your bottom line by 10% to 20%.
Bring Your Business Branding Ideas to Life With MiLK&BULL
Any good branding kit must include your company or product's branded logo, font, color palette, and graphics. With these tools, you can relay your desired message to your audience and keep them coming back for more.
Are you overwhelmed with brand ideas but don't know how to implement them in your product development process? At MiLK&BULL, we know the logos, colors, and fonts your brand needs to succeed. Contact us to get started!