When it comes to creating identities for B2B businesses, it’s essential to strike the right balance of professionalism, and personality. On one hand, you want to keep a consistent brand identity that represents your business and resonates with your audience. On the other hand, you need to be able to dial up or dial down the identity depending on the context. This is what we refer to as, The Brand Dial.
The Brand Dial is the ability to adjust your branding to fit the situation. By doing so, you can inject personality and character where appropriate, while still maintaining a professional and consistent image overall. Here are some tips for finding the right balance:
Define your brand identity
Before you can start dialling your brand up or down, you need to define your brand identity. This includes your values, mission, tone of voice, and visual identity. By having a clear understanding of your brand, you’ll have a foundation to work from when deciding how to dial it up or down.
Know your audience
To be able to dial your brand effectively, you need to know your audience. Who are they? What do they need? What are their pain points? By understanding your audience, you’ll be better equipped to create a brand identity that resonates with them, and you’ll know when it’s appropriate to dial up or dial down the brand.
Determine the Context
When deciding how to use the Brand Dial, you need to consider the context. For example, on social media, you’ll definitely want to dial up the personality and inject some humour, while on something like your website’s contact page, you might dial it down and keep it clean and uncluttered. Similarly, for employer branding collateral, you might dial up the character to showcase the culture of the business, while on contracts or legal documents, you might dial it down to remain professional and formal. You get it.
Use consistency as your guide
While you’re dialling your brand up or down, it’s essential to maintain consistency. This means using the same visual identity and tone across all channels. Consistency will help build brand recognition and trust with your audience.
The Brand Dial is a great tool for B2B businesses looking to strike the right balance between personality and professionalism. By defining your brand identity, knowing your audience, determining the context, and using consistency as your guide, you can effectively dial your brand up or down to fit any situation.
Remember, finding the right balance takes a bit of time and consideration, but with the Brand Dial, you’ll be well on your way to creating a strong, engaging and versatile brand identity for your business.
