Promotions and Brand Building

Creating a strong brand is arguably the most vital aspect of a well-known, established company. People need something with which to both recognize and remember you, and a brand does just that. Successful branding carries the image of your company, which is why it is so important to be consistent with your brand in all marketing materials, no matter if it's a newspaper ad or a brochure printing piece. Here are some steps you can take to effectively promote a brand that your customers know and trust.

Consider Your Values
The very first step to success in promoting your brand is to choose the values you want to emphasize. Some companies go with integrity, others quality, while others choose more specific values such as durability. And although some companies choose more than one value to promote, try to stick with no more than two since you don't want to overwhelm your customers with too much to remember.

Once you choose your value, then hammer this into your customers' memories by advertising the heck out of it in every single poster, postcard, or brochure printing piece you distribute. Choose keywords that you can spatter throughout the materials, such as "quality." Write a tagline or slogan to place in your materials, and since this is something you won't want to rewrite, be sure to make it something you can use for years to come.

Choose Design Standards
McDonald's has the Golden Arch, Nike has the Swoosh, Coca Cola has red and white calligraphy, what do you have? Decide on colors, fonts, and images to use consistently throughout your materials. Beginning with your logo is a great place to start since this is basically "the" branding icon for a company. Once again, don't go overboard with the amount of colors and other design aspects that you choose. Too many and your clients' heads will be reeling. You may even find that your brand is focused on font and colors more than an image, or an image more than colors. Just find some underlying aspect in your brand that you can consistently use in everything that will be in the public eye.

You may find that using the same design aspects in every poster or brochure printing is difficult. Sometimes you'll find that you simply need to include your logo to make your brand clear in your materials, while other times you may decide to design a poster, for instance, using your company colors, font, and image but not include the logo. The key is to always make your brand recognizable so that customers learn to notice your company immediately at a glance.

Select Language Consistencies
Finally, you'll need to use the same language throughout your brochure printing, newspaper ads, and more. Choosing a style and certain phrases or words to use consistently will make your brand all the more recognizable. Look at Starbucks' advertisements; they have a writing "voice" that evokes warmth, trust, and quality. In contrast, Taco Bell and Sonic have taken the humorous route.

One of the easiest ways to maintain a certain style of language in every advertisement is to use the same words. For instance, you may decide to address customers personally by using "you" or you may want to create a more informal tone by addressing customers as "clients." Your tennis shoes may need to be called "sneakers" or your hair spray might be "hair spritz." Choosing a language that people will recognize even without your logo is one of the best ways to reinforce that certain image of your company into their memories.