Picking the right brand imagery for your brand can be a daunting task. It’s beyond just aesthetics. And of course, everybody wants their website to be attractive. They want it to look good. They want us to represent them well. But does that mean that it will be well received by the audience that we’re talking about?

And that’s why we’re talking about how to create brand imagery for your business that resonates it’s not just what you feel is the best. It’s what the clients and the customers feel is best and is working on a consistent basis. There are so many examples of this, and we’re going to talk through a couple of examples. But as anyone who’s running a business knows, it’s your job to figure out how to create a website that looks good for your client and their audience but also tells an effective story about the brand.

DIY Isn’t Always The Answer

This is where it gets a little bit harder for people that are looking to build a website that resonates or people that are looking to build a holistic brand that resonates. Designers do a lot of work choosing brand imagery when they’re working with the brand. And the issue that sometimes people might find themselves in is you can use some of these easy tools to DIY build a site, build a logo but the expertise that a real professional provides is going to be in how they are able to weave together what you say and what you want. This is most important, next to the visuals that match and can create those sentiments you’re trying to call attention to.

Those nuances make people feel like they’re really resonating with your brand and they’re really resonating with what you’re doing.

And a lot of times people who need a website are not the right person to build the website. Just because you want a website does not mean you know how to piece it together. And when you hire a real professional, you get the benefits of what works and what doesn’t work. And you get the expertise, the training of a designer, somebody who has designed before and understands to show the customer is going to journey through the story that they’re producing for you.

Creating A Core Message

This is the hard part, right? This is where it gets a little bit more tedious, and people may be misconstruing the ideas of what that really means. So with brand imagery, it’s a visual representation of your brand’s core message. Sometimes when we’re working with clients, they don’t even have a core message.

But think of it this way. What exactly do you do? And how do you do it? How is it unique to you? That’s your real core message.

And that’s how you can craft a statement that kind of says it very plainly. What makes you special? What exactly that you do? How will the customer benefit from it? And what are the long-term goals of your brand? Answer those and you can create a brand’s core message.

Once you’ve settled on a core message a designer can put together a look for your organization that represents this message. Once this is done you can direct what consumers associate with your brand and it can be communicated in various forms, like visuals, experiences, feelings, tastes, etc.

Brand Image Vs Brand Imagery

There are two kinds of ways for you to kind of think of it the difference between brand imagery and brand image.

A brand image is McDonald’s is a fast-food chain. It delivers affordable, cheap food that tastes the same every single time. It’s consistent, it’s fast food. It’s everywhere.

Imagery is how McDonald’s wants you to perceive how they treat their employees. It’s how McDonald’s wants you to think about them being at the NASCAR 500. Brand imagery can be unique to each customer. Like Coca-Cola. How does it taste? What does it smell like? What does Coca-Cola stand for? What do they represent? What colour is head and shoulders? The NBA? And it’s not just a basketball and it’s not just a soft drink. People are talking about the colours, the images, the textures, the nuances and the nostalgia.

All of that plays a factor in how the imagery makes you feel. And anyone who’s ever done any type of marketing understands you’re not selling products or goods or services. You’re selling a feeling. You’re selling how people are going to feel. If they feel a certain way, then that emotion, that compulsion will lead to a sale. So if you’re in the business of trying to get sales, if you’re in the business of trying to build a business through your website, whether it’s direct to consumer – if you make them feel a certain way, then they will feel a connection.

The difference between brand imagery and brand image is who is actually going to be using the information? If we’re talking about ourselves, then that’s brand image, what is our image? How do we want to be perceived when we’re talking about brand imagery is how others perceive us. And we have to create that feeling so we can kind of help people along the way to get them to the place where they’re ready to buy.

How Can You Use Brand Imagery

The brand imagery you choose for a company can affect how it’s perceived. Brand identity is a bigger matter that can be affected by various factors. So there’s a lot of different ways that you can use brand imagery: Logos, photo, photography, illustration, iconography, video, animation, & the colour palette composition rules.

Some people use certain fonts a certain way only so that it always looks and feels the same. Some brand imagery elements are essential for all websites, like a colour palette or photos. However, it depends on the visual style you want to develop for your brand

That’s how people are going to perceive your company, and they’re going to understand maybe the tonality or the tone of your brand, then are you fun? Are you nostalgic? Are you a brand that taps into the heritage of the identity? That’s kind of the stuff that brand imagery helps us achieve.

Using Nostalgia To Your Advantage

Once you have traction with your audience, and you can actually play to the nostalgia, especially when you know their persona. You know exactly who you’re speaking to their age, their demographic. You can now speak to memories that they have because they were born in the 60s or they were born in the 80s and you can see that clear as day with a lot of brands.

When you look at, let’s say, Mercedes Benz, they are using certain typography for certain typography, certain images, certain status images that appeal to the Boomer generation. The key demographic of people who are going to have the disposable income to purchase a Mercedes Benz. They’re going to be people born in the 60s, people born in the 50s that are going to purchase these types of vehicles. And then you can see the shift in how they promote certain ads. You can see on Instagram, they don’t look the same way as the TV advertisements.

Those ones are the ones where it’s like the G-wagon flying through the snow because they’re speaking specifically to that target, and they’re playing into that nostalgia like, yeah, look at this big, rugged vehicle.

Reliable Visuals

Reliable visuals give prospects even more reason to connect with the brand. Again, the more you speak the language, the more they’re going to feel comfortable with you. And if they feel comfortable with you, they have more and more reasons to connect with you. And that’s why, for example, people who love outdoors and hiking and trailing and all that different type of stuff have certain brands that have a lock on the industry because the more they play those images or the imagery, meaning the colour, the brand, the tone, the aesthetic completely.

People feel understood. Companies like Mountain Equipment Coop, Rei, Sail, Patagonia. These companies have a grip on their clientele because they show commercials, they show ads, and their website all reflect all the values that these types of customers are attracted to.

Ask Yourself These Questions

How would you describe your business?

What three words would you describe the personality of your company?

Are you happy? historical? nostalgic? serious? corporate?

Figure out what are your company’s top values.  

Which websites do you love the look of and why?

What reactions do you want to elicit from your audience?

How do you want people to feel?

What reaction do you want them to give up when they see your site or when they go to your site consistently?

Does your brand have a connection to a time, an era place?

Want to learn more? Watch the full Brand Imagery webinar here for more examples!

Nervous about reviewing your brand or just starting out? Need a brand refresh? Let us help you! Reach out to hello@creativepartner.ca today to review your marketing strategy and brand so we can help you stand out to your audience.