Three Elements that Make a Strong Brand

What makes a brand? We hear the word “brand” bandied about but have you ever stopped to think about what actually makes a brand? Now let's take it a step further. What makes a strong brand? You’ve been in this game for a little while now, and you can certainly point to other brands you feel are strong. You may think that it’s one of those “you know it when you see it” kind of things, which can be hard to articulate. But I’m going to don my personal branding photographer hat and share the three elements that make a strong brand. 

1.Messaging & Strategy

As a brand photographer, I’ve collaborated with several brands over the years and have also worked closely with Big Picture Branding as one of her clients. ​​​​​​​​Courtney is a brand strategist and part of what she does is helps you to hone in on your messaging and copy so that you have a super strong strategy moving forward. In order to do that you need to know (among others) a few things:

• ​​​Who are you serving?
  Known as the audience persona or client avatar, this is NOT your demographic. Knowing their age range, location and other surface observations may help you create your messaging but you need to take a deeper dive if you want to know who you are truly serving. 

• ​​​​​What are their pain points or problems?
  In order to create your services and market them, you have to understand what you are trying to solve and what motivates your ideal client to seek help or a solution. ​​​​​​​​

• ​​​​​​​​What is your Brand Personality?
  Your brand personality helps inform so many other aspects of your brand - including visuals which we’ll cover next. 

​​​​​​While these concepts may feel like they just live on paper, they translate to brand visuals - including imagery. That’s why when I send out my questionnaire, I ask my clients to think about these things so I can craft the perfect shoot plan for each session to align with their brand strategy. ​​​​​​​​

2. Visuals

When you think of a brand you know well you are probably able to picture their logo, their brand colors, even the fonts they use in their marketing. Being able to recognize these brand visuals is another sign of a strong brand. When I decided to upgrade the visual branding for my Course, The Brand Photographer Method,  I worked with Vero Branding to establish the visuals, and the brand guideline, which you can see a sneak peek of above. With these visuals serving as a strong foundation, I then hired her once more to develop the website - and I’m just obsessed with how it came out!  

Beyond just logo, fonts and colors, you also need to consider the photos you use on your website and social media feeds as brand visuals. When a client of mine reached out for branding photography, she also asked for a recommendation for a website and copywriter to help launch her new career coaching brand. So I reached out to Vero and Courtney and we collaborated on a full on brand project to create visuals and copy and brand strategy for for Next Evolution Coach.

Courtney got busy on the messaging and strategy which then informed Vero’s work on the visuals including logo, fonts, colors, and eventually website. As this was in progress, we developed a shoot plan that would perfectly reflect the colors and style of the brand. I love the pops of color!

3. How You Show Up

One of the most important things that you can do to create a strong brand is to show up consistently. I have several clients that do this well. Nourish RX does a great job on their Instagram account but is also consistent with updating their website. While Quotable Media doesn’t always just use the photos we’ve shot together, this savvy media agency keeps their Instagram looking cohesive, as well as their website. And Striped Dog Creative is a rock star when it comes to their messaging, both on their social media and website.  

You can see shots of their Instagram accounts below to get an idea of how they employ their branding images as well as their brand colors and fonts to create beautiful feeds. They aren’t just aesthetically pleasing, they also give their audience an idea of their brand mission and message. When I scroll through my IG feed, I know immediately when I come across one of their posts not just because I recognize the photos or the faces, but the whole look of the square matches their brand.

@nourishedrx

@stripeddogcreative

@quotablemedia

Now, I don’t claim to be a brand expert. But since starting my business nearly a decade ago, I’ve learned what doesn’t work when creating a brand. And being the photographer, I aim to create images that will be perfect for your brand and strategy moving forward! Ready to book? Schedule a call with me and let’s work together!