Why do we buy clothes from the same brands, consider coffee in a certain chain of coffee shops to be the most delicious and are ready to pay more for flights with a familiar airline? It's simple – we love them (or, in marketing terms, remain loyal). And this love doesn't come out of nowhere — it's created by branding specialists.

Branding is not just the development of a logo and slogan, it is the creation of a unique image of the company. It helps to establish long-term relationships with customers, encourages them to return to your product again and again. And today, when competition is conducted at all levels, including at the level of communication, branding is indispensable.

Brands that take into account the interests and needs of the audience are able not only to stand out from the competition, but also to build deep emotional relationships with users. Let's talk about several levels of branding: base, trends, and how to apply it all.

Branding Base: What Influences the Emotions and Feelings of the Audience
Marketers and creators conduct research and tests, spend hundreds of hours to package the brand so that each element of the image and their combination evokes emotions in the audience. Let's talk about such elements:

Corporate colors;
typography;
tone of voice;
Names and slogans;
images and symbols.
Corporate colors
Brands choose a branded palette based on what associations they want to evoke. For example:

red is associated with energy and passion;
blue – with calmness and reliability;
green – with peace and harmony, etc.

Typography
Fonts and styles used in the logo and brand communications also affect the emotions of the audience. For example:

bold fonts are associated with strength and confidence;
Italic fonts are associated with elegance and dynamics.

Tone of communication
Tone of voice, or the voice of a brand, is an important component that determines its uniqueness. Whether a company is humorous, serious, positive, or intellectual, it will make an impression on its audience depends on whether it is humorous, serious, positive, or intellectual.

Names and slogans
It is impossible to gain a foothold in the market without a unique and memorable name. But even well-known brands, for various reasons, may decide to restart under a new name.

Images and symbols
The use of certain images and symbols is another lever of influence on the motives of consumption. These can be fictional characters or those that repeat the image of a real person (for example, the founder of the brand).

There are many examples of the active use of mascots or brand characters. One of the most notable and interesting brands today is the Karl Lagerfeld brand. At different times, the symbols of the collections were both his favorite cat Choupette and the image of designer Shu Uemura, drawn in the anime style. Today, the brand uses the image of the founder himself, who passed away in 2019, as a mascot. So the fashion house emphasizes that it maintains the continuity of Karl's style and keeps in touch with his fans.

Each of the mentioned brands uses not one element, but a complex of them. In an ideal scenario, all brand attributes:

are consistent with each other;
are related to values and mission.
That is, the mascot is organically integrated into the concept of visual style, slogans and tone of voice sound uniform, and corporate fonts and colors are observed on all media. This is the only way to maintain the unity of the brand image, which means to establish long-term and loyal relationships with consumers.

Trends: Branding 360
The usual methods of advertising and marketing no longer always work as effectively as before. The reason for this is both market saturation and competition. As a result, companies have to come up with different ways to make the brand more recognizable.

The solution is 360 branding. This is a comprehensive approach to interacting with the audience, which covers all aspects of communication: from the visual image of the brand to sound and tactile elements:

Music and sounds;
Packaging materials;
graphics and animation.
Music and sounds
Music compositions and sound logos can be a full-fledged attribute of the brand and cause strong associations in consumers. Especially if they are repeated many times and accurately meet the needs of the audience.

Packaging materials
Packaging made of designer paper is no longer surprising to anyone. Today, 3D printed packaging, made of recycled plastic and other solutions that lie in the plane of innovation and environmental care are in trend.

Graphics and animation

A unique style of graphics and animation can also be a brand attribute.

In general, the concept of 360 branding seeks to expand the range of communication channels as much as possible — to influence the audience's feelings at all levels. This approach helps to create a clear and memorable brand image. We have listed just some of the 360 branding tools, in fact, there are many more.

How to use it all
Choose branding elements and their combinations based on the characteristics of your business. For example, brand strategists act as follows when forming a customer image:

Determine the target audience of the brand, identify its needs and consumption scenarios.
Highlight the key features of the brand, formulate its values and messages.
Based on this data, they create a strong and memorable image that is attractive to the target audience.
Establish standards for the use of attributes to maintain consistency of style.
Develop and implement a promotion and communication strategy.
It is important to take into account the specifics of the business, which can become a problem in the formation of the image.