Rebranding? Use these branding ideas for inspiration
Standing out in today's crowded marketplace is a challenge. That's why it's so important to create a strong brand that allows you to connect with your target audience.
When you're just getting started or your branding is feeling a little blah, it helps to have some branding ideas ready to help you infuse new life into your brand. Say no more. We've got just the creative branding ideas to inspire you!
This article is part of Air’s Ultimate Guide to Branding. Click here to explore the rest!
4 branding ideas from brands we love
We've put together a list of our favorite branding ideas for when you just need a little inspiration. Add your favorites to your branding strategy to create a bold brand that connects with your potential customers.
1. Bring out your brand archetype.
Inspired by psychiatrist Carl Jung's archetypes, brand archetypes are personas that brands align with based on various factors like brand personality, brand values, priorities, messaging, and visual style. Defining your brand archetype helps you better understand how to build strong connections with your target market.
Brand archetypes allow you to get at what potential customers love about your brand. With this information, you can create a strong brand strategy that focuses on connecting with your customers deeper.
One example of a company that brings out its archetype in its branding and marketing campaigns is Nike. Nike is "The Hero" archetype who is driven by courage, growth, and development. Through grit and determination, the hero is ready to work hard and prove their worth. Nike's slogan, "Just do it." personifies the hero's need to rise to their ambitions and achieve their dreams.
All you have to do is look at one Nike ad to see this archetype at work. Their iconic ads speak to their customers' desire for greatness and the hard work, growth, and courage it takes to get there. These ads are inspiring without being too soft.
Really leaning into your brand archetype and bringing out pieces of its personality in your branding (like Nike does) will allow you to create a successful brand with messaging and a visual identity that resonates with your target audience.
2. Refresh your website design.
If your website feels a little stale or no longer represents your brand, it's probably time for a refresh. Whether you're changing the whole layout of your site or just updating the branding photos and messaging, small changes can go a long way in helping your site feel more in line with your brand's visual identity.
One of our favorite examples of a bold website design change comes from Mailchimp. In 2018, Mailchimp announced that they had a new look, and that look was reflected in a big way on their website.
Before the updates, Mailchimp had a robust site. It was simple, clean, and easy to navigate. The content on the homepage was focused on Mailchimp's email marketing features, and the design was colorful and whimsical with abstract shapes and diverse patterns.
As Mailchimp grew as a business and began to market themselves as a comprehensive marketing platform for small businesses, they decided they needed a new brand to reflect that evolution. Thus, the current Mailchimp branding was born!
The site incorporated this new branding, including some fun white and black illustrations that retained the whimsical feel from before yet created a more purposeful and unified visual identity. While the site is still simple, clean, and easy to navigate, the site messaging now focuses more on the value that the brand provides instead of being so feature-heavy.
3. Re-envision your logo design.
As your brand evolves and changes over time, so will the visual aspects of your brand identity, like your logo. A brand logo not only personifies elements of your branding, but it also plays a huge role in brand awareness, impacting the way that people recognize your brand and marketing materials in the crowded online business space.
Businesses change their logos for a variety of reasons:
The existing logo looks outdated and doesn't reflect current design preferences.
The current logo doesn't align with the look and feel of their overall branding anymore.
The company's goals or focus has changed, and it needs a new logo to reflect those changes.
They want to breathe new life into their brand and freshen things up a bit.
If you feel that your logo no longer suits your current business branding, then it may be time to change it up! Let's take a look at some brands that re-envisioned their logos for a whole new look and feel.
Slack is an excellent example of a brand that refreshed its logo without making drastic changes. Their refresh was for practicality. The initial logo included 11 colors and didn't look right on any background other than a white one. The new logo is more straightforward in its use of color and easier to see on different colored backgrounds.
FedEx got a brand refresh in 1994 that impacted not only its logo design but also its name and color palette. As CEO at the time, Fred Smith wanted to make sure that the Federal Express truck would be visible to someone standing on a street corner several blocks away. As a result, the name was shortened to FedEx and they adopted a simpler, cleaner, and bolder logo.
One of the greatest aspects of this new logo is the hidden arrow in the white space between the “E” and the “x.” This subtle element is aligned with the company’s mission to deliver things from one place to another quickly and efficiently.
Instagram revealed its new logo at the same time it released a complete redesign of its app. Taking the rainbow and the viewfinder from the original logo, Instagram created the new logo design to have a simpler, more modern feel that reflected its community. The new logo also became the app's icon, which is why it needed to be simple and recognizable.
4. Test out different taglines.
Creating a brand tagline for your digital marketing materials is no simple task. Your brand tagline connects with your brand story and brand values, and it's often just as recognizable as your brand name. So how do you find a slogan that resonates with your audience?
The best way to see if something works is to test it out. That's what you can do as you try out different taglines or slogans while going through the brand development process. Share your potential taglines with your target audience on social media or through your email newsletter. You should also share the tagline options with your team members to see which aligns best with your brand personality.
A great example of a tagline transformation done right is Airbnb. Initially, the company's tagline read: "Feel ordinary with us." The slogan was meant to convey the message that Airbnb was for ordinary people to stay in the homes of other regular people. It was NOT the same as a corporate hotel experience. However, using the word "ordinary" could be a turnoff to customers who don't want to feel ordinary, especially on vacation.
Their new tagline, "Belong Anywhere" aligns with their values of inclusivity without making people feel boring or un-special. “Belong anywhere” is also a part of the company's mission, which is to "create a world where anyone can belong anywhere." This tagline gets at the heart of what Airbnb does and why people love to use it.
Since your tagline will show up across your content marketing, ensure that it not only gets at the heart of your brand but also makes people feel the way you want them to feel.
What to do with these branding ideas
You've got a list of branding ideas that you can use to give new life to your existing brand or even get started with the rebranding process. What now?
If you're actively looking to work on a rebrand, take the branding ideas that make sense for you and prioritize them based on your overall business and marketing goals. And if you're not ready to tackle any of these right now, keep them in a safe place (like your favorite note-taking app) so they're there when you need a little inspiration!
As you try out some of these ideas, don't forget to include any branding changes in your brand guidelines. Update your visual assets so that everyone on your team is on the same page. There's nothing worse than seeing an old logo or an outdated brand color in an asset that's customer-facing.
Air makes updating your branding assets a breeze. Your team can collect, review, and approve content all in one place. Not to mention, it's easy to update asset versions so that everyone in your company has access to the most up-to-date visual content.
Want to see for yourself? Try out Air for free now, and your first 5GB are on us.
