Brand assets are visual and tangible elements essential for shaping a brand’s distinctive character and personality. They play a vital role in fostering an emotional bond between the brand and customers, enhancing memorability, and boosting brand recognition. If you’re thinking about McDonald’s golden arches, Nike’s logo, IKEA’s blue and yellow color palette, or Coca-Cola’s sound effects, you’re on the right track.
Let’s explore the different types of brand assets, how they boost brand value, and best practices to implement them successfully.
Different Types of Brand Assets
Visual assets encompass a broad range of elements such as images, icons, and graphics that contribute to the overall visual representation of a brand. They play a crucial role in conveying the brand’s messaging and aesthetics. A few brand asset examples include:
Logo
A logo is a distinctive graphic symbol or emblem that represents a company. It serves as a visual identifier and is often the most recognizable element of a brand.
Color palette
The color palette consists of the specific brand colors associated with a brand. Consistent use of these colors across various touch points helps create a cohesive and memorable visual identity.
Tagline or Jingle
A tagline is a catchphrase (sometimes with a rhythm) used to convey a brand’s essence, values, or a unique selling proposition. It can be a powerful tool in reinforcing brand identity and messaging.
Icon or illustration
Icons or illustrations are visual elements that make a brand more recognizable. They can be standalone basic symbols or integrated into various brand materials to enhance visual appeal and create a distinctive brand personality.
Typography
Beyond visual appeal, typography has the power to spark instant brand recognition. When fonts are uniform throughout all digital branding, it increases brand identification across all forms of assets.
Mascot
Mascots add personality to a brand. Not only are they fun and recognizable, but can also help brands reach target audiences. They create a memorable and positive association with the respective products or services they represent.
Using Brand Assets to Create a Strong Brand Identity
Build and maintain brand recognition
Marketers use brand assets to create strong brand awareness. Logos, color palettes, and typography provide distinctive visual cues that establish a memorable visual identity, and can be an immediate identifier for a brand. Well-crafted brand assets have the power to evoke emotions and create a connection with the audience, meaning a customer is more likely to remember it.
The most effective brand assets are simple. Basic, straightforward logos and an easy color scheme can improve brand recall. When you see a red dot with a circle around it, you’re no doubt going to think of Target.
Create a consistent, unified customer experience
When brand assets are consistently applied across various touchpoints, including packaging, advertising, and social media posts, they create a cohesive and unified brand image. Tone of voice is integral to maintaining a strong brand identity. When brands display a consistent storyline through their marketing materials, customers feel confident in what they’ll see and receive from brand interaction, ultimately boosting loyalty.
For example, Disney’s brand voice is one that is joyful, friendly, and provides a sense of togetherness. Its brand voice encourages children and families to “find your magic” and believe in the place “where dreams come true.”
Building trust and reliability
When customers consistently experience a brand’s communication in a certain way, it shows that the brand can be trusted and creates a reliable brand perception. The repetition of brand elements assures customers that they are engaging with the same reliable brand.
Establishing professionalism and credibility
A consistent visual identity communicates professionalism and attention to detail. Stakeholders are more likely to perceive a brand as credible and reliable when its visual assets are consistently applied.
Improve ROI
Having uniform brand assets that allow a brand to repurpose logos and other visual materials for individual marketing campaigns, saves time, money, and effort that would otherwise go toward creating new brand assets. Establishing customer familiarity can also stimulate buying behavior.
Best Practices in Brand Asset Management
Adaptability to Various Platforms
Brand assets that are adaptable across different platforms and media channels ensure that the brand is recognizable in diverse contexts. This adaptability reinforces brand recognition across a wide range of consumer interactions.
Execute with the right tools
Using a digital asset management (DAM) system is crucial for successful brand asset management. It offers a secure, centralized repository for brand asset files. Internal and external parties can edit, distribute and collaborate on projects and coordinate workflows from a single location. This helps streamline processes, optimizes performance, and makes sure only the correct files are used.
Marketing teams can use a DAM solution to build templates and maintain brand guidelines. An integrated DAM system can also pull data analytics to monitor customer engagement and measure overall brand performance and success.
Ready to build brand assets that grow your brand? Get started today with PhotoShelter.