6 Essential Brand Assets You Need to Create for Your Business
When setting up your new business, you need to focus on branding as much as your operations. Brand assets are the essential elements of your branding strategy, and they’ll serve as the foundation for your marketing. But, which brand assets do you need, and how do you create them?
Fortunately, we’ve compiled a list of the top six assets to focus on. These elements work in tandem with each other, so you can build a strong foundation for your company. Let’s break down how to create each one and why they’re so valuable.
Brand Research – Audience and Competition
Technically, this isn’t an “asset,” but it’s a crucial part of building any brand. The research phase of creating a business will help shape your brand and ensure long-term success. Without this step, you’d be flying blind, meaning you’d be scrambling to keep up with market trends and consumer demands.
But, what does brand research involve exactly? Let’s break it down:
- Target Demographics – In this case, it’s better to be hyper-focused than generic. For example, instead of appealing to women ages 20 to 25, you should focus on married women with at least one child and a household income of $80,000 or more. By narrowing your demographics, you can address specific needs and solve unique problems. During this stage, you need to figure out what’s important to your audience so you can figure out how to market to them.
- Competitor Offerings – Regardless of your business strategy, you’ll have both large and small competitors within the marketplace. What are those other companies doing right or wrong? What advantages do they have over your business and vice versa? What can you offer that they can’t? Not only should you pay attention to what other brands are doing, but you should also see how their products appeal to your target demographics.
- Competitor Branding – When looking at the competition, pay attention to the brand assets for each company. What do their logos look like? What about color schemes, fonts, and brand identities? If you can define these elements for other businesses, it’s much easier to figure them out for your own.
Brand Name
What’s in a name? Well, as a business, your brand name means everything. It’s the first thing people know about your company, so you need to make an immediate impact all the time. Here are some tips on how to create a captivating brand name:
- Keep it Short and Simple – Did you know that Mug Root Beer used to be called Belfast Old-Fashioned Mug Root Beer? As you can imagine, the original name was too much of a mouthful, and since everyone called it Mug, the company shortened the name. You should take the same approach to your brand. If it’s too long, it’s harder for people to remember, and it might be challenging to enter into a URL bar, to get creative, we suggest using a Word Combiner to come up with a new and great name for your brand.
- Make it Memorable – Complicated names or phrases can be tricky to get right. So, you want a brand name that’s easy for customers to recall later. Imagine if someone only sees your brand for a second, such as on the highway. Will they be able to remember your company at the end of the day? They should.
- Incorporate Your Brand Identity – A brand identity is what you want customers to think of when they see your business. Do you want to be light and fun, or serious and authoritative? Make sure your brand name reflects that. For example, if you’re opening an indoor playground, a name like The Fun Zone fits better than John Smith’s Play Area.
