- [Instructor] Brand DNA defines the credibility limits
of a brand and is made up of five characteristics.
Brand purpose, brand positioning, brand promise,
brand personality and values, and brand expression.
Let's take a closer look at the first one, brand purpose.
To establish a brand,
you must first define and understand the why.
Why did your client choose to do what they do?
What's their motivation behind starting
the company to begin with?
Why do they exist?
Why do they matter?
These are all questions that the company has to answer.
This will give you tremendous insight
into who they really are.
That's why you're asking it.
And let's take a look at the second question.
Your client's business, product or service exists
in a marketplace of competing messages,
so your primary goal is to stand out
and set yourself apart from others.
Thus, your brand positioning should focus on claiming
that unique space in the minds of your target audience
in the marketplace.
Three questions you need to answer
to facilitate a client's brand differation are these.
What specific category is your brand?
What market do you want to succeed in?
What gaps can you fill?
Who is the target audience?
What is your demographics mindset?
Never try to be all things to all people.
And three, what sets the brand apart from others?
What about the brand makes it unique
and matter to your industry?
There's a lot of overlap between some of the questions
in brand DNA and with a style guide,
and I'll explain that in just a little bit.
The third question, a brand promise.
People value trust and people love brands
that apply that same principle of confidence
in how they operate and build relationships
with their clientele through meaningful products
and services.
A brand promise is merely communicating
a guarantee of value to their audience.
It's also a direct extension of the brand positioning
and the expectations that it sets.
Consider Walmart.
Walmart's brand position
is being the leading low cost retailer
and their brand promise is save money, live better.
And this is what their audience now expects.
Number four, brand personality and values.
Think of this as personifying
a client's business, product or service.
What human characteristics would you choose?
Sophisticated, serious, fun.
What are the specific core values your brand stands for?
How a brand behaves, speaks and engages with their clientele
will define its personality to their audience.
A brand should have a clear tone of voice.
You don't want a brand to be tone deaf.
It's about being authentic.
I think the quote from C.S. Lewis sums this up well.
He said, "Be weird. Be random. Be who you are.
"Because you never know who would love the person you hide."
I think that is fully authentic
and that's what a brand needs to do to their given audience.
Number five, brand expression.
This includes tangible aesthetics such as the logo design,
the colors you choose, the products produced,
the customer service, the business's name.
Your brand expression is the manifestation
of your visual brand identity.
That said, a brand's expression
isn't limited to just a logo.
It's the totality of a brand's audience
and their experience and expectations
with the positioning, promises and personality
that becomes a brand's authentic story to the masses.
In other words,
the public ultimately decides what a brand is.
Let's take a look at how these characteristics apply
to the two businesses we're branding in this course.
So with Elevated Culture, their brand purpose.
Elevated Culture is owning our identity,
shaping the image of our times,
and boldly defining the future.
I like that.
Their brand positioning.
A truly authentic African American lifestyle brand
that sells ingenious, resourceful commodities.
Three, brand promise.
Our journey is yours because we walk in the same shoes.
I love that, that's awesome.
And four, brand personality and values.
Applying wisdom, strength, and perseverance
to Elevate Culture.
And five, brand expression.
You'll see this play out in the rest of the course.
So let's take a look at Cascade Lakes.
Brand purpose.
Cascade Lakes Company will continue to craft
the best fruit-based soda on the Pacific Coast artisanally.
Two, brand positioning.
Eco-friendly beverages using organic natural ingredients
blended with real Cascade Mountain spring water.
That was a nice reveal that I didn't realize.
Three, brand promise.
We create honestly delicious fruit soda.
Four, brand personality and values.
Healthy drink, healthy living.
That's a nice byline or a slogan.
That can be leveraged.
Five, brand expression.
You'll see this play out in the rest of the course.
The larger the company,
the greater need for understanding your brand,
and brand DNA is one way to do that.
Most small to medium-sized businesses never bother
to define these characteristics,
yet operate their businesses successfully.
But if you take the time to define these for your clients,
it will give a deeper well to pull from
when moving forward with your design,
and that's always a good thing.