Branding is very difficult to explain which is probably why it’s difficult to understand!
I believe the term comes from farmers branding their cattle with a unique mark thousands of years ago.* So in that sense, Branding is about making sure your products and/or services are recognised as your own just by looking at them.
In the most simple terms, Branding is the process of defining your unique business identity visually, namely with things such as a logo suite, colour palette and typography guidelines. It also encompasses the way you speak to your audience and how you express yourself as a business (brand voice/tone of voice).
However, I have been reading Dr. Nicole LePera’s “How to do the Work” on her theory of holistic psychology and she writes about the mind-body-soul connection. So one morning I woke up with this idea that if you are the MIND and your business is the BODY, then really Branding is the SOUL of your business. It communicates all your core values and uniqueness to the world, and contributes to the magic that happens when you align all three.
It is notoriously difficult to do your own branding, even established designers struggle with doing their own. This is why it is good to let someone outside of your business help you with your Branding. They can ask you the right questions and translate your business values and goals into a coherent visual identity that communicates those to your target audience. Your Branding is as unique as you which will make your business stand out against your competitors.
Why is Branding important?
If you’re in business in any industry, you will have competitors that pretty much do the same thing as you. As a Mental Health & Wellbeing Professional you may have different specialities or approaches but overall what you do is unlikely unique…apart from the fact that you’re doing it your way and no one else is like you!
So when I work on Branding, I want to get to know you (to the extent that you’re comfortable with) - as a practitioner of your craft, as a professional in your niche, as a person. What are your values and beliefs, approaches to your practice, personality traits? These are all the things that make up your unique style as a person and once I know those I can craft your unique style as a business. Because in your industry, you are the brand.
I hope that has been useful and you’re a bit more clued up about Branding now… If you are, why not book a no-obligation 30-60 minute FREE Discovery Call with me today to find out how I can help you with your Branding?
I’d love to hear from you!
Best,
Anja
*“The term derives from the Old Norse word brandr or “to burn,” and refers to the practice of branding livestock, which dates back more than 4,000 years” (Skyword, source)