Aside from good customer service, how else can you ensure your clients have a positive experience with your product or service?
Having a clear brand and investing in good design is very important.
Good branding is unforgettable
It’s long been understood that many unconscious perceptions influence customers in the buying cycle.
You may think the products and brands you use on a daily basis are relatively ubiquitous, but the most successful companies and corporations spend a lot of money to create a design that you won’t forget, and that stirs positive emotions.
Whether it’s keeping the message simple (Nike: Just do it) to powerful product placement (think Coke and Pepsi), the more you remember a brand, the more the work of a good branding and design team is doing its job.
According to this article, a good branding team will create a simple message specifically targeted to its audience of users.
While paying for branding may seem like a big expense for something quite ‘vague’, customers pay more for branded products, so you will earn the outlay back tenfold.
Think of the jeweler Tiffany & Co. The actual cost of the diamonds, silver and gemstones is a fraction of the retail cost. But who can resist that little blue box? Customers are willing to pay more because they are buying more than just the product. They are buying into the brand, the beautiful designs, the history and the story of the famous jewellery company.
A brand needs to make an impression
A brand acts as a shortcut for consumers to make a quick assumption about what they think your business does, and how your business is positioned in the market.
In a busy world, with many competing brands and other distractions, your brand will often be the determining factor as to whether consumers continue to investigate your business.
In line with the theory that it only takes seven seconds to make a strong first impression, your brand will have an impact on people. What do you want your brand to say about your business? How do you want your brand to make people feel?
A well-designed brand should represent the right thing (your price/quality point, your brand purpose) to the right people (your ideal customers/clients).
Likewise, your branding signifies every touch point a customer has with your brand. Your brand should aim to portray consistency and uniformity, as the same story and impression shown through your brand will build consumer confidence. This includes every single interaction a person has with your brand, be it in print, digital, face-to-face, and across all stages of the business (e.g. sales, support, service, installation, packaging and retail).
As such, an effective brand begins with a customer’s understanding of where your business fits in the market. Your brand is then translated and perceived at every touch point a customer has with your brand, and serves as a shortcut for people to make quick decisions about your business.
“A brand is no longer what we tell the customer it is – it is what customers tell each other it is.” – Scott Cook.
How does design come into it?
If your product or service is more web-based, then simple, user-friendly design is a must.
If people can’t access or even understand your services due to a complex website that asks too much of them, you’ve got less chance of becoming the go-to in your field.
Design is more than visual aesthetics. At the heart of any successful brand is a design that communicates how it looks and how it works.
As Steve Jobs once said: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
According to Brandon Hill, good design encompasses three categories: user experience (usability), marketing (communication), and branding (perception).
So, what makes a design good?
Arguably, we’d say that a good design is one that benefits business and is helpful to customers. Otherwise, your customers won’t interact with your brand and your business will lose customers pretty quickly.
Good design should be tailored to your customers and help them to solve a problem or fulfil a need. Your users or customers should therefore be at the forefront of all your branding and design work.
Good design also shows marketing nous – and just like marketing, it should be measurable, profitable and helpful for the consumer.
This is exactly why design should never be an afterthought to your business marketing.
Think of the brands Instagram, AirBnb and Apple: simple, elegant design is at the forefront of the user experience. And a positive user experience – with a design that’s simple and visually appealing – all influence our perception of the value of the brand.
Good design converts browsers to purchasers – people want to ‘take home’ a brand story or a sleek, elegant design that makes them feel good.
Branding and design is good for business
Whether your business is a small startup or you employ hundreds of staff, getting your branding and design in order will bring you more customers, make your product more easily recognisable (and memorable), and encourage people to come back for more.
If you’d like to find out how branding and design can help your business reach new heights, phone Assemblo on (03) 9079 2555 or send us a note via the contact form below.