4 Keys to a Successful Start-up Branding and Logo Design Strategy for 2018

Richard Barrett
Mar 3, 2018
3 min read

For many small businesses and start-ups, creating a well thought out and appealing design brand strategy is paramount. A great brand strategy can lead to success; however, a poorly thought out one can lead to the demise of the company before its able to take flight.

There is no magic wand, silver bullet, or perfect strategy to guarantee that a company will be a success and connect with its potential customers; however, our brand management team has comprised a list of tips, resources, and commonalities of successful brands that have been highly effective.

Lets take a closer look...

Brand statement-Your branding statement, commonly confused with a company's mission statement are very different. A brand statement is generally very brief phrase or tagline that provides insight into your company's good/services and creates loyalty. By contrast, a mission statement are the values, market, and objectives of your company. The brand statement is often times of a derivative of the mission statement. Ervinandsmith.com have put together a great template for creating a well thought out and effective tagline.

Famous brand statements are:

TARGET-Expect more. Pay less.

BMW-The ultimate driving machine.

Publix-Where shopping is a pleasure.

These taglines were created to speak to a specific audience. Demographic research such as customer age, income, social standing, etc, will help hone and target your customers. Chron.com has an easy to follow step-by-step outline of how to formulate a branding statement.

Industry knowledge-Having a thorough understanding of the history of your industry and the company can be invaluable. Case in point, BMW’s logo represents the company’s German origin and aviation history during the Second World War. The white center wedges of the logo depicts a propeller and motion, while the blue wedges depicts the sky. The famous Mercedes Benz’s three pointed logo represents the company’s one time dominance of the earth, sea, and air. If the company has a fascinating origin or a rich history that speaks to the company’s longevity and durability, it should always be leveraged.

Design Choices-The next step is selecting the design and color schemes for the brand. What message and emotions are you trying to convey? Does the message and emotion speak in a collective and coherent voice? Your brand strategy is like a symphony of different pieces that when performed correctly can result in a beautiful harmonious sound. The design piece is the framework for the visuals and emotions you hope to create with prospective customers.

Color-The choice of colors for your brand can illicit a number of emotional responses. The following colors are traditionally affiliated with certain emotions:

Red-energetic, courageous, passion
Blue-professional, medical, serenity
Pink-whimsical, flirtatious, amorous
Green-money, growth, nature
White-clean, simplicity, purity
Black-darkness, strength, seriousness

Font-The selection of the brand font can be the most arduous and time consuming step of the design process. Should we use Serif font, Times New Roman, Script? Should the font be modern, traditional, amusing? What message and emotion does the font convey about the brand? Here are a few commonly utilized fonts and what they represent.

Times New Roman-Tradition
Marck Script--Creativity
Futura-Strength
Rosewood-Display
Comic Sans MS-Playful
Snell Roundhand-Elegance

Iconic brands that have been very successful in representing elegance, simplicity, and playfulness are

Elegance

Simplicity

Playfulness

We hope that these tips and resources will help to put your business on the path to long term brand awareness and brand loyalty. We will continue to share tips and resources on marketing related subjects of interest. Please follow us for more amazing content on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter under Phalanx Media Group. For help with your business, feel free to contact us at 855.567.8762 or contact@phalanxmediagroup.com