Many companies struggle with creating a strong brand identity. One of the biggest mistakes that I see them make is trying too hard. I have talked before on this blog about focusing on what makes your company stand out from all of your competitors, and that theme is even more important here. What makes you and your business different should be a strong focus on your brand identity, and a central part of the brainstorming process.

Many times I see a product created that tries to market every single good quality that their product has. This is great, but can be confusing and distracting for consumers. Try gathering friends and family that are similar to your target market and doing a brainstorming session with everyone in the room. See what qualities stand out to them. What are the most noticeable things that would draw a potential customer or client in to what you are trying to market?

Once you have a firm and definitive answer, focus your branding around that. This should again be a simple message. If environmental concerns are the most important, think about incorporating a lot of green into your brand via your logo and website. If it is simplicity, you want that to be a prominent part of your brand, and should be reflected across all of your marketing efforts: a simple straightforward logo, a clean crisp website, etc.

Once you have identified this, then you can build your brand around it. Keep this one thing in the front of mind in all of your marketing efforts, even after you have your brand established. Write it down. Put it somewhere that you will remember it every day. Keeping your unique brand consistent and front of mind as your business grows will be hard to do with all of the countless distractions that will arise, but if you can do this you can maintain a strong brand identity