Business and branding go hand & hand. The idea is that you have a product or service, the next question is: How do you communicate in such a way that it continuously connects people to your business over the long run. As we all know, everything in life can be broken down into a formula. The same can be applied to business and branding.
A great example is “Boxed Water Is Better“. The company is a notable case study when it comes to defining your brand through identity pillars and brand attributions. The name in itself, triggers you to ask ‘why’? We’ve all experienced some form of greenwashing, but the company takes it a step further by providing a “real life” sustainable solution to a societal problem.
It’s a solution that not only communicates why you should choose to purchase ‘Boxed Water’, it’s also a conversation starter that can potentially take you down one of many rabbit holes. Just to be clear, my goal isn’t to present fear mongering but to further drive home the branding genius behind Boxed Water.
Check out the clip below of Joe Rogan and Dr. Shanna Swan on how plastics are affecting our reproductive systems.
Defining your brand is about using the tools and philosophies available to create clarity around your business. Once you have an understanding of ‘who’ you are and ‘what’ you want to be, you can begin to create conversations that have a long lasting effect.
How To Create Identity Pillars
Ask yourself, who are your customers? By knowing who you’re talking to, you can create conversations around your content. The more triggers, the better. Identity pillars are considered to be what your brand stands on. It’s what people think and how they think it.
Creating identity pillars is a four-step process. Check it out below.
- Examine your current & future business goals.
- Figure out your present brand attributes.
- Be clear-cut about where you want your brand to go.
- Build identity pillars that speak to the guarantee of your brand.
When it comes to defining your brand, identity pillars hold the highest value. Why? Identity pillars are vehicles that help shape the narrative around your business moving forward. Because not only do they help develop a narrative, they also help you to create a messaging architecture with your customers.
What’s being said and how are you trying to say it?
How To Develop Brand Attributes
If you ever considered your business to be like your child, then brand attributes would be its personality. Naturally, identity pillars speak to ‘why’ and brand attributes are more focused on ‘who’. It’s the perspective people have when they view your brand. Is your brand thoughtful, expensive, advanced, trendy or problematic?
Simply put, what’s the energy surrounding your brand? So at some point, you have to define who you want to be on a local level and a global level. Brand attributes help you to create a union between your brand, your content strategy and your customers.
No matter what business you’re in the goal remains the same when it comes to developing your brand attributes. Three questions you need to ask yourself are:
- What are your business objectives (not goals)?
- What is your brand?
- How can you combine these two to communicate a message?
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