We’re always hearing about brand strength. But what does this mean for the content marketers, designers, CMOs and everyone else who strives to achieve it? Considering it’s such a marketing essential, it’s a pretty ambiguous term.
Every marketer wants to achieve a "strong brand" but what really makes a brand strong?
The obvious answers can be found on numerous marketing blogs, which focus on consistency: the necessity of adding the right logo to marketing collateral and keeping everything aligned with the brand guidelines. But is there a way to test brand strength? Can branding be measurable?
To address these questions, our team analyzed the top performing brands to determine what the factors are behind powerful branding. Four key categories emerged:
1. Consistency
Consistency is the backbone of visual branding. A seamless experience across all channels of communication fosters confidence and loyalty. Consistent branding not only commands authority but builds the trust between a brand and their customers.
The main measurements are consistency of:
- Color
- Font
- Text size
2. Message
Clear communication of your company values is vital—especially in the digital space. In order for people to feel attracted to your brand they need to understand it. A consistent brand message should clearly define your positioning and align with your core behaviors.
Message is measured by:
- Complementary colors
- Logo colors
- Meta information
3. Visibility
For a brand to perform well in today’s digital world, social engagement is one of the most important measures of brand value. Brands are choosing to become increasingly involved in social activism these days, so a brand has to be both authentically likeable and equally visible, which is a challenge that shouldn’t be underestimated.
Visibility is measured by:
- Social cards
- Header contrast
- Color temperature
4. Accessibility
Security, privacy and visibility aren’t just an afterthought. For a brand to take ownership of their niche in the market, these factors are fundamental. To put it simply, a brand has to be easy for the user to discover and use.
Accessibility is measured by:
- Social links
- Domain name
- Privacy policy
OnBrand Grader (discontinued)
The team then devised a way to test the performance of the four categories, and developed the OnBrand Grader.
The grader was born out of the need to identify weak points in branding and to easily see which areas of a brand’s online presence needs improving by breaking down the four categories and their indicators into numerically measurable values.
Once a website is fed into the tool, results are automatically calculated. In seconds, the grader will suggest certain colors that should be eliminated, or fonts that are inconsistent, right down to the “Googleability” of the brand.
So, can branding be measurable? While some elements are certainly subjective, we like to think the grader provides a valid and reliable indication of online brand strength.
So, what are you waiting for?
Start your free trial with Bynder today to make sure your brand is always consistent
More than 250,000 brand managers, marketers, and designers use Bynder’s brand portals every day to get their whole team on the same page to produce, review, and approve their marketing collateral. If you want to grow your brand quickly and with quality, start your free trial today.
