Brand Identity Creation & StrategySteven Michael Fies2025-07-30T21:25:39+00:00
Introduction
In today’s competitive market, establishing a strong brand identity is crucial for any business looking to stand out and connect with its audience. Brand identity governs the strength of your connection to customers, employees, and other stakeholders.
With a solid brand identity, you can build trust, foster loyalty, and maximize your ROI on marketing and human resources. Without it, achieving these objectives is more costly and challenging.
At S.MICHAEL Creative Branding, I help businesses create and manage compelling brand identities that resonate with their target audience and drive long-term success. Additionally, as an instructor at General Assembly, I teach branding. You can review my Branding 101 workshop slides here. I recommend reviewing those slides after reading the material on this page.
For professional assistance in developing your brand, book a free discovery call to start the conversation.
Brand Identity Creation & Strategy Services
At S.MICHAEL Creative Branding, I offer comprehensive services to help you create and manage a strong brand identity. These services include:
Brand Strategy
Defining your brand’s core values and positioning ensures that your brand communicates clearly and effectively with your target audience.
Identify and articulate your brand’s core values.
Conduct competitive analysis to differentiate your brand.
Develop a unique brand positioning strategy.
Define a tagline and core brand statement.
Brand Voice & Messaging
Creating comprehensive guides for consistent brand application ensures your brand’s tone and message are uniform across all channels and touchpoints.
Define your brand’s tone of voice and messaging framework.
Develop key messaging for different audience segments.
Create content guidelines for social media, marketing materials, and customer communications.
Provide training for your team on maintaining brand consistency.
Visual Identity
Designing logos, color schemes, and typography creates a memorable and cohesive look that enhances brand recognition.
Design a distinctive and versatile logo.
Select a cohesive color palette that reflects your brand’s personality.
Choose typography that complements your brand’s visual style.
Develop a complete visual identity guide.
Comprehensive 2-Day Brand Development Workshop
Many clients choose to complete these steps in my Comprehensive 2-Day Brand Development Workshop. The workshop includes:
In-depth brand discovery session with key stakeholders: Engage in detailed discussions to understand your business, goals, and target audience.
Collaboratively develop your brand strategy, messaging, and visual identity: Work together to create a cohesive and effective brand identity.
Provide hands-on training in brand management and application: Equip your team with the skills and knowledge to maintain brand consistency.
Deliver a comprehensive brand identity guide together with assets post-workshop: Receive a complete set of guidelines and assets to ensure your brand is applied correctly across all platforms.
The workshop is an ideal solution for new brands, rebrands, or brands that are incomplete (e.g., if you already have a logo and color scheme but have not yet addressed brand voice and messaging). Be sure to ask about the workshop if you are interested in engaging my services. The workshop is often my top recommendation for new clients, but it’s also possible to spread this work over a longer time horizon.
Why Develop a Strong Brand Identity?
Developing a strong brand identity makes you irreplaceable in the market and ensures that your business does not become a commodity. Having a strong brand also makes your business memorable and trustworthy. Together, these factors allow you to achieve maximum ROI on your marketing efforts. Let’s unpack each of these in more detail:
Great Branding Makes You Irreplaceable
A robust brand identity differentiates your business from competitors and elevates you to a “category of one,” making your brand unique and irreplaceable. This helps you:
Be people’s first choice
Increase engagement, loyalty, and retention (customers, employees, and key stakeholders)
Boost sales, revenue, and profitability
To provide an example, consider the market for computers and operating systems. When you think about such companies, the first brands that come to mind are likely Apple and Microsoft. They dominate most of the market because they have built strong, recognizable brands. Lenovo, HP, and Dell are also notable brands in the space, particularly regarding laptop and desktop computers. As a consumer, you can generally trust that if you purchase a product from these companies that it will work. Furthermore, even though there are less expensive alternatives available, you may still purchase from a reputable brand to avoid taking any chances.
Weak Branding (Or No Brand) Turns Your Business Into a Commodity
Without a strong brand identity, you are no longer in a category of one – you are just any other business in your field. Consequently, your business is a substitutable commodity and you lose out on the benefits listed above.
As a commodity you are also forced to compete primarily on price, which leads to:
Lower perceived value
Decreased customer loyalty
Diminished negotiating power
Less effective marketing with lower ROI
Increased vulnerability to competitors
This is why it’s critical to build a strong brand so that you can stand out in the market and secure a lasting connection with your customers, employees, and key stakeholders. Without a unique value proposition, potential customers driven by cost will purchase from competitors with lower prices, while those concerned with quality will seek out competitors who have established a strong brand.
Strong Brands Are Memorable and Trustworthy
Great brands provide instantly recognizable visual cues and clear, consistent messaging, making it easy for people to trust and remember the brand after repeated exposure. In the digital marketing realm, this produces more clicks, engagements, and conversions when someone needs your services. In the traditional and grassroots marketing realms, this leads to more phone calls, emails, and warm introductions.
On the other hand, weak and inconsistent branding can significantly undermine these efforts. Think about it: If your logo, message, and visual elements are different each time, people’s brains struggle to latch onto a common “hook.” This is simple psychology that is easy and intuitive to understand. The resulting lack of brand recognition means potential customers may not even realize they are encountering the same business in different advertisements. Even for those who do recognize it’s the same business, they may question the trustworthiness and stability of your business due to the apparent disorganization of your branding and marketing. Without a clear and consistent brand identity, your marketing efforts become fragmented and less effective, ultimately hindering your business growth.
Building a Brand Improves Marketing ROI
Finally, having a strong brand identity is critical for other forms of marketing, like Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Although it may not seem obvious due to the technical nature of SEO, multiple reputable sources have confirmed the importance of branding for SEO in recent years, making branding more important than ever:
SEO is just one example of a marketing initiative that relies on good branding to work effectively. All forms of marketing and paid advertising benefit from effective branding, meaning your ROI will always be higher than if you are a brandless commodity.
Now, let’s explore the key elements of brand identity creation.
What is Brand Identity?
Brand Identity is the collection of all elements that help others uniquely identify your brand and create a unique and memorable brand experience for your customers, employees, and key stakeholders. This includes everything from your logo and color scheme to your brand voice and messaging. Core components of brand identity include:
Brand Core Values
Brand Voice and Messaging
Visual Elements (Logo, Color Scheme, Style Guide)
Understanding Your Brand Core Values
Your brand core values are the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide your business decisions and behavior. These values shape your brand’s personality and how it interacts with customers. They should be authentic, align with your mission, and resonate with your audience. Here’s why establishing strong brand core values matters:
Build trust and loyalty with your customers
Differentiate your brand in the marketplace
Guide your marketing and communication strategies
Crafting Your Brand Voice and Messaging
Your brand voice is the unique tone and style in which you communicate with your audience. It’s how your brand speaks, whether through social media posts, marketing materials, or customer service interactions. Consistent and clear messaging helps to build a strong connection with your audience and reinforces your brand identity. Elements of effective brand messaging include:
Clarity: Be clear and concise in your communication.
Consistency: Ensure your messaging is uniform across all platforms and channels.
Emotion: Connect with your audience on an emotional level to build lasting relationships.
Designing Visual Elements: Logo, Color Scheme, and Style Guide
Visual elements are the most recognizable aspects of your brand. They include your logo, color scheme, typography, and overall design style. These elements should be designed to reflect your brand’s personality and values and be consistent across all touchpoints. It’s important to keep these elements uniform, because this allows you to:
Create a memorable and recognizable brand
Enhance brand perception and credibility
Ensure consistency in your marketing materials
The Process of Brand Identity Creation and Management
At S.MICHAEL Creative Branding, I follow a structured process to help you create and manage your brand identity effectively. Many clients opt for my Comprehensive 2-Day Brand Development Workshop, which allows you to complete the entire process in one shot. Other clients prefer to spread this work over a longer period of time. Either way, the process remains the same:
1. Discovery and Research
Understanding your business, goals, and target audience is the first step. We engage in detailed discussions to get to know you, your business, and your unique objectives. We also consider the nature of your industry and evaluate competitors to gain valuable insights that inform the brand identity development process. This personalized approach ensures that the brand we create is aligned with both your vision and the market.
2. Strategy Development
Based on our research and discussions, we develop a brand strategy that includes your core values, brand voice, and visual elements. This strategy serves as a blueprint for all branding efforts. We articulate your brand’s mission and vision, create a distinctive positioning statement, and define the key messages that will consistently communicate your brand’s promise. This strategic framework ensures that every branding decision aligns with your overarching business objectives.
3. Design and Implementation
We create the visual elements of your brand, including the logo, color scheme, and style guide. These elements are designed to be versatile and adaptable to different platforms and materials. We produce a comprehensive Brand Identity Guide that details the proper use of visual assets, ensuring consistency across all touchpoints. This stage also lays the foundation for creating your website, marketing collateral, and social media templates to ensure a cohesive brand presence.
Brand and PR Management
In addition to initial brand creation, I offer ongoing brand and public relations (PR) management services. Maintaining a strong and positive brand presence in the market requires consistent effort and strategic planning. Here’s how I help my clients with ongoing brand and PR management:
Brand Consistency and Monitoring
To ensure your brand remains strong and consistent, I provide ongoing monitoring and management services. This includes:
Regular Audits: Periodically reviewing your brand elements and messaging to ensure consistency across all channels.
Brand Guidelines Enforcement: Ensuring all marketing materials and communications adhere to your established brand guidelines.
Feedback and Adaptation: Gathering customer feedback and making necessary adjustments to keep your brand relevant and engaging.
Strategic PR and Reputation Management
Public relations play a vital role in maintaining your brand’s reputation and building strong relationships with your audience. My PR management services include:
Public Relations: Building and maintaining relationships with strategic business partners and media outlets to secure positive coverage for your brand.
Crisis Management: Consulting on effective communication strategies during times of crisis to protect your brand’s reputation.
Content Creation: Assisting in the development of press releases, articles, and other content to highlight your brand’s achievements and maintain a positive public image.
Why Choose S.MICHAEL Creative Branding?
Choosing S.MICHAEL Creative Branding means partnering with a dedicated and experienced professional committed to your brand’s success. Discover my approach and the unique benefits of working with me here.
With over a decade of experience, I’ve helped numerous businesses craft and manage their brand identities. My expertise extends to translating brand identity into tangible applications, including websites, branded merchandise, apparel, advertising creative, and marketing collateral. I understand what it takes to build a strong brand from a strategic perspective and how to format brand assets to meet technical requirements across various formats and mediums.
Notable Examples of Client Success
Here are a few examples of how my branding services helped to elevate my clients’ businesses:
Tammy Lally, TED Speaker
Tammy went from being any other financial advisor to a TED Speaker and household name after her rebrand. Her TED talk was featured on the front page of TED.com and currently has over 2 million views. She also gets significant new business from Google now.
The Echelon, Private Mansion for Rent in Austin, TX
The Echelon was already an exclusive property for rent in Austin, TX. After I helped to develop their new brand and website, including helping to direct photography and other creative work on-site, they were featured on the Dallas Housewives.
Arrive Logistics was a new startup when they hired me in 2017 to assist with their rebrand and website. Back then, they had 150 employees and around $100M/yr in revenue. Fast forward to today and they have 2,000 employees and $2 Billion in annual revenue.
Kitay Law Offices, Law Firm in Pennsylvania
Kitay Law Offices needed clear and consistent branding in order to grow. After creating their new brand, developing a strong marketing strategy, and implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO), they grew their revenue 5X in five years.
IM John Bartholomew, Co-Founder of Chessable.com and Chess Influencer
IM John Bartholomew is a chess master and streamer with nearly 200,000 subscribers. John is also the co-founder of chessable.com, which he sold to PlayMagnus in 2019 for a handsome exit. After developing his new brand, website, and email newsletter, he received a very positive reception.
Collaborations with Branding Partners & Experts
I’ve also had the privilege of collaborating with other brand experts, consultants, and agencies, gaining valuable insights from these partnerships. Additionally, as a branding instructor at General Assembly, I’ve taught workshops to business professionals worldwide, sharing my knowledge on effective branding principles.
Conclusion
A strong brand identity is essential for business success. At S.MICHAEL Creative Branding, I am committed to helping you create and manage a brand that reflects your values, resonates with your audience, and drives growth. Let’s work together to build a brand that stands out in the marketplace. To get started, book a free discovery call to start the conversation!
The Echelon, Private Mansion for Rent in Austin, TX
Arrive Logistics, 3PL Freight & Logistics Brokerage
Kitay Law Offices, Law Firm in Pennsylvania
