Branding is never static, it’s always dynamic. The vigil eyes of brands are always kept open so any limitation of the present brand endorsement techniques could be spotted. Perhaps it is this dynamic nature that causes branding to continuously evolve.
The current trend is “becoming human again”. Though it sounds like an aphorism, it actually stands for uncluttered and effective means of brand endorsement. The bottomline of branding is attracting customers and the “human-era” in branding aims to set aside technicalities so branding could acquire humanistic in its approach.
Designers could help the new era outreach. Let’s see how:
Designing emotions
Consumers are human beings and have emotions. If a brand succeeds in evoking the emotions of the consumers, then it could easily create a mark among them. Even though late, brands have finally realized this; they are now adding too many elements to their online adverts so a consumer’s mind is infused with sentiments toward that brand.
The adverts are to be designed in such a way that they titillate the consumers. Such adverts need to contain live moments and urge consumers to interact. Appending so many elements in a small advert is not easy; only efficient designers could pull it off for brands.
Brand signature
What exactly comes to your mind when you hear the term “brand signature”? Whatever it is, it’s must be something that uniquely applies to a brand. Logo being a design element, uniquely describes a brand. Brand signature is inclusive; it includes not only logo but many other dynamic elements such as storytelling, microinteractions, vision, etc.
Designing can highlight each of these elements. Multimedia may be needed, but if simple designing is to be followed, then not too many multimedia effects are to be added to the whole setup of brand appearance or advertisements. The most difficult thing however is ideating. Designers need to ideate a design framework for a brand. The framework will contain graphic representation of everything that are totally exclusive to the brand.
Saying “Sorry”
We humans make mistakes and say sorry. In the human era, brands should do the same. They shouldn’t say sorry for no reason, but only if there’s a requirement to say sorry. Users often complain brands are arrogant; that’s because brands often fail to render the services that they promise, yet they don’t say sorry to their customers, which they should.; that’s a grave mistake that most brands commit.
If an apology comes from a brand, then the end users would perceive it as humble. This could help the brand retain the size of its existing customer base. Design could help place the apology better. A smile with a sad face expresses sorrow, yet consumers will take such messages lightly. This is how two human beings, who are close to each other, interact and brand should also adopt the same style from them.
The handheld platform
Earlier, sites were developed for being rendered on desktop devices. They were low bandwidth mobile versions of regular sites. But now custom websites for handheld devices are being developed. Mobile design experts are not everyday’s web designers. They are highly fluent in HTML5 because it is needed to develop mobile sites and even apps. To promote branding across handheld platforms, mobile designers are becoming increasingly focused on UX design. In fact, this is the only area in mobile designing that is being highlighted for branding.
The handheld platform has become a phenomenon and very difficult to deny. So embracing it for endorsing brands could be a workable idea, and by hiring experienced UX designers, the brand could get an edge.
Communication in building trust
In the branding sphere, trust is way more important than money. If a brand is considered untrustworthy, then very soon it’d lose its credence and cease to be a brand. Communication is an effective tool to build trust, and through catchy design works, the process of communication could be bolstered.
If the company operates in the B2B segment, then the project plan that it is supposed to send its client, could feature an attractive design. Besides content, the design elements could add clarity to the plan too, which amounts to better communication. If it’s a B2C company, then its target customers are all end users. Constant communication with them is the key to the success of the brand. If design elements are included, then the communication won’t annoy end users.
Responsive is the key
Responsive design is the key. The biggest benefit of responsive design is the site’s appearance will remain the same when accessed from different devices. At the time of loading, the site will automatically pick the resolution of the device that is being used to access it and adjust itself to it.
Responsive design preserves the size of the fonts and thereby stop the content from getting distorted if the site is loaded on a small resolution device. Other than text based content, graphics and animation are also crucial for a site’s success and responsive design makes sure pixels consisting of a website won’t break or blur even if the site is loaded from devices that are different in resolutions.
Story telling
We humans love stories. We tell stories to others and listen to their stories. Since branding is submerging into the human era, it needs to tell its stories to prospective consumers and listen to their stories. To make storytelling an integral part of branding, designers are essentially needed.
Experienced designers can add design and effects to a site so when it is visited by users, they get to interact with the brands or at the very beginning, listen to the story that the brand has to share with them. Storytelling needs excellent graphics and some multimedia effects. The designer doesn’t have to overdo any of them. His motto should be introducing the brand to potential consumers in an uncluttered way and narrate its history to the briefest of extents.
Very simply put, the human era in branding has a long way to go. Designing can help it go along and in so doing the web designing industry will also undergo incisive changes. The changes will help branding becoming humanistic.
Images: ”Multiethnic Group of Hands Holding Word Branding/Shutterstock.com“
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