It’s one thing to start a company, but quite another to effectively brand it for market success. There are many components that make up product branding outside of the name of your products. To be successful in any industry, you’ll need to flesh out exactly what your mission is for the company and your product offerings. If you can effectively distinguish your products from competitors through simple messaging, consistent imagery, and visually appealing packaging, you’ll be setting off on the right foot. Here are the principles of product branding to ensure you have nailed down before jumping headfirst into the competitive market.
1. Simple Messaging
How you choose to describe your products can make a large impact on consumers. If you can’t sum up what a product is and the benefits it offers in a few short sentences, then you need to return to the drawing board. Long, drawn-out explanation will be overlooked by consumers. The attention span of these folks is short due to a continuous overload of brands being marketed to them via social media, television, and other avenues. Speak simply and direct, offering greater details in the appropriate areas.
2. Creativity and Distinction
More than likely, there will be competitors you’re up against in your industry. From coffees and athletic wear to smartwatches and glassware, there are billions of companies that are on all different levels of success in their respective markets. To make your products stand out, they must have a creative edge that makes consumers stop and check out what you’ve got to offer. Think of your favorite brands and how they’ve distinguished themselves from their competitors. For example, Doritos recently released a commercial boasting the ability for consumers to recognize the brand even without the name on the bag. That iconic bag color has stayed with them and made them the chip giant that they are. The same applies for other large brands like Apple, Death Wish Coffee, Target, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and The North Face.
3. Visual Appeal
Looks aren’t everything—or are they? Naturally, consumers gravitate to the better-looking products. The items that have better branding and nicer packaging appear more legitimate and trustworthy to consumers. You’ve likely encountered this with tons of brands in grocery stores. When you develop a new product, give every design element more than enough time to be absolutely perfect. The fonts, colors, type of packaging, and messaging should all jive together and speak to your brand’s overarching message. When the final product appears striking and different, consumers will take notice. This is a case where standing out is a great thing that can contribute to your business’s success.
4. Consistency
Once you’ve determined the brand’s identity, how products will be packaged, product messaging, and the way in which your brand will stand apart from competitors, consistency is key. Keeping with the same imagery, fonts, and speech pattern will better establish your brand for consumers. Don’t change the logo or switch out font types a few months into product releases. Changes can become confusing and feel unstable to consumers. Once your community is solidified in a year or so, then you can consider updates to the brand.
Product branding seems difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. When enough time is allotted to hone in on the importance of simple messaging, creative positioning, visual appeal, and consistency, your brand will fare better than many others operating in the same market segment. At MSP Design Group, we can help you get a handle on the different facets of brand and product development. Reach out to us at 1-833-978-0076 to work with a company with over 30 years of branding experience.
