What Are Branding Images and Why Are They Important?
Branding images are visual assets that represent a company's brand identity and help communicate its core values and messages. They play a critical role in shaping brand perception and connecting emotionally with target audiences. From logos and iconography to photography and illustrations, branding images inform how consumers view and relate to a brand.
In today's crowded marketplace, creating distinctive and memorable branding images is more essential than ever. With the rise of visual content across digital channels and social media, images often serve as a consumer's first impression of a company. Implementing compelling, coherent branding images allows organisations to cut through the noise and make their brand stand out.
So, what makes for compelling branding images? Let's explore some fundamental principles.
Principles for Creating Impactful Branding Images
Simplicity is Key
The most iconic branding images employ minimalist visuals that are clean, straightforward, and quickly recognisable. Consider Apple's apple silhouette or Nike's swoosh—both communicate volumes through simple, uncluttered shapes. Complex or detailed images are more challenging for audiences to decode and recall.
Consistency Matters
All branding images should align with a consistent visual identity and style. Maintaining uniformity across logos, photography, illustrations, colour schemes, typography, and more allows a brand's assets to feel cohesive. Inconsistency dilutes and muddles brand recognition.
Symbolism Resonates
Great branding often utilises symbolism and metaphor to reinforce the brand's promise. Images that conjure related concepts and feelings through symbolic association can deeply resonate with audiences on a more emotional level.
Appealing Aesthetics Attract
Above all, branding images should feature an aesthetically pleasing and visually engaging graphic design. Beautiful, artful images that follow visual design principles naturally draw the viewer's eye and appeal to our innate attraction to beauty.
Companies can develop versatile and compelling brand assets by considering these principles when conceiving and creating branding images. But brands must also understand their audiences and identity to determine which specific types of branding images will work best for them.
Major Branding Image Categories
Some of the most common and impactful categories of branding images include:
Logos
As branding 101, logos are the face of brand identity and one of the most crucial graphic assets. Logos visually encapsulate a brand's name, values, and persona through image, colour, typeface, and composition.
Mascots & Illustrated Characters
Mascots help personify brands through characters, lending them personality and playfulness. They often feature heavily in brand advertising and can be just as recognisable as logos. Some classic examples include the Kool-Aid Man, Mr. Peanut, and Tony the Tiger.
Patterns, Textures & Backgrounds
Unique brand patterns, textures, and backgrounds provide visual interest while reinforcing consistency across branded assets and marketing materials. Repeated geometric or organic patterns and textural backdrops make branding images distinctive and aid identification.
Icons & Icons Systems
Icons translate aspects of a brand into symbolic, illustrative short-hand. Systems of custom icons create a visual language to represent brand messaging. Like emojis for specific brands, icons can convey concepts faster and more universally. Brands like Twitter and Airbnb utilise vibrant sets of proprietary icons.
Photography & Imagery
Lifestyle and product photography brings branding to life while emphasising ideals that resonate with target audiences. On-brand filters and editing techniques can further tailor photographic styles to complement brand identity.
This breakdown indicates that companies have many branding image styles to explore when building a visual identity. But for branding images to truly maximise their impact, brands must develop cohesive imaging strategies based on their positioning and goals.
Developing a Strategic Brand Imaging Approach
Implementing branding images effectively requires upfront planning and continued discipline. Every visual cue conveys meaning to audiences, whether brands intend them to. To ensure branding images achieve their desired impact, brands should map their objectives, evaluate their options, and plan for consistency.
Pinpoint Brand Goals & Values
First, brands must identify what makes them unique and the impressions they want to cultivate in their customers' minds. What promises, experiences, and values are core to the brand identity? Images should manifest those ideas visually. Symbols, characters, colours, photographic styles and compositions can all underscore or detract from key brand messaging if utilised haphazardly.
Analyse Competitive Landscapes
Next, audit competitor approaches to determine what aesthetics and branding styles resonate most in your industry. Seek areas of differentiation while taking inspiration from especially compelling executions. Chart out strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats relative to competitors' brand imaging strategies using a SWOT framework.
Align Internal Stakeholders
Ensure internal team members agree on brand imaging objectives, especially those creating and approving assets—Foster understanding of brand identity and goals across all involved departments through education and clear guidelines. Address any confusion or misalignment early to prevent mixed messaging.
Create Style Guidelines
Develop comprehensive style guides and document detailed specifications for all visual branding elements, from colour values to permissible backgrounds to ideal photo subject matter. Guidelines give creative teams the guardrails to produce on-brand content efficiently and empower even non-designers to evaluate deviations.
Plan Asset Lifecycles
Catalogue all branding images and plan how and when to phase assets in or out to keep branding fresh while retaining equity of more legacy assets. Schedule reviews to ensure newer images remain aligned with brand evolution over time.
Pulling Together an Impactful Brand Image Library
Once brands outline their unique imaging personalities and guidelines, they can bring those strategies to life through an expansive yet cohesive set of branding images.
Lead With the Logo
A logo encapsulates the visual soul of the brand and will dictate colour schemes and stylistic directions for other assets. Prioritise getting the logo right above all else. Refine it through multiple exploratory rounds to hone in on the best mark.
Hero Images Set Tones
Key “hero” images make first impressions across top-level branding real estate, like homepage headers and product landing pages. These images should instantly communicate the brand's personality and style. Support them with additional lifestyle imagery woven throughout sites and campaigns.
Icons Systematise Messaging
Develop custom icon systems to translate complex brand concepts into symbolic visual shorthand. Consistently implement icons across touchpoints like website interfaces and infographics to reinforce connections subconsciously. Explore iterations until icons feel intrinsically tied to the brand.
Typography Aligns Tone
Custom fonts and lettering styles unite branding images to perpetuate stylistic themes. From display faces to handwritten scripts, branded typefaces make copy feel “ownable” rather than generic. Ensure typography choices fit brand personality and tone.
Mascots & Characters Charm
While optional, mascots inject brands with personality and humanisation. Experiment with character sketches to manifest the brand until one clicks. Then, create comic strips, animated spots and lifestyle scenarios to develop the mascot’s character over time. Send stickers and plush toys featuring mascots to loyal customer segments as surprise rewards.
Photography & Video Immerse
High-quality, on-brand photos and videos lend branding real-world presence across websites, ads and social content. Invest in custom photo shoots rather than leaning on stock libraries with stale, overly posed images. Apply subtle post-processing, like colour grading, to unify visual styles.
With enough planning and care, brands can craft versatile imaging libraries with assets tailored to communicate any message or scenario on-brand. Let's look at why that level of thoroughness pays dividends.
Why a Broad Brand Image Range Matters
Branding images often spread widely as marketing teams re-use assets liberally across campaigns and channels over time. Images featured predominantly early on usually remain fixtures for brands. The more broadly images resonate with diverse segments and use cases now; the greater flexibility brands retain as needs shift down the line.
Some reasons a wide yet consistent image selection gives brands an edge:
Flexibility Across Campaigns
Great branding images should inject visual flair regardless of context. A broad inventory of assets tuned to a range of user scenarios prevents repetitive creativity. With each campaign or initiative, marketing teams can implement fresh images that still feel familiar.
Consistency Over Time
Assets with versatile utility to convey many messages tend to stand the test of time better than one-off images locked to fading trends. Evergreen images designed thoughtfully help brands maintain consistent looks and recognition as years pass.
Built-In Variety Protects
Specific images will inevitably resonate more strongly with some users than others or face controversies. Broad image libraries mitigate dependency on individual problematic assets. If one image fails to land or causes issues, others reinforce branding.
The fuller the image repository, the more significant insurance brands have against disruptions down the line. But on their own, even perfectly crafted branding images cannot shift perceptions. Their impact only materialises through effective distribution and audience exposure.
Distributing Branding Images to Drive Awareness
Developing exceptional branding images means little if key audiences never encounter them routinely enough to cement the desired brand associations. Strategic distribution across relevant channels and touchpoints ensures branding images reach their full potential.
Maximising Branding Image Impact Through Multi-Channel Distribution
In today's fragmented media landscape, even the most evocative branding images will fail to make impressions if not increased across the channels where key audiences actively spend time. To drive branding goals, images must reach consumers repeatedly in the moments and contexts most relevant to catalysing the desired perceptions or behaviours.
Savvy brands use data to determine the ideal mix of digital destinations and physical settings to blanket with on-brand visuals.
Digital – Cast A Wide Net
In digital spheres, branding images have the power to scale quickly. Brands should cover bases through presence on prominent social platforms, advertising networks, owned channels like blogs and websites, and high-authority media publications relatable to customers.
The breadth of distribution matters online to increase visibility. Tailor images appropriately to fit the tone and functionality of each channel while retaining brand identity.
Physical – Make Lasting Impressions
In physical environments, branding images make more singular but often lasting impressions. Position signage, imagery, and collateral to catch the audience's eyes during relevant moments like waiting in lobby areas, passing retail displays, or engaging with products and packaging.
Local presence also builds community connections through venues like sponsored events, merchant window displays, and grassroots partnerships.
Everywhere – Surround Audiences
The most effective branding image strategies combine broad digital reach with localised physical immersion. Distributing coherent visual assets universally makes brands ubiquitous and familiar across both sides of consumers’ lives, offline and on. The more often audiences witness branding images passing across daily habits and haunts, the more profound brand affinity and recollection build through sheer repetition.
But simply flooding fields of vision with branding images means little without context. Images should aim to reach people amidst scenarios where brand offerings provide apt solutions.
Relevant Timing & Targeting
Images distributed without regard for audience mindsets and immediate needs will struggle to stick. Consumers dismiss even the catchiest visuals if messaging seems irrelevant during exposure. Analyse consumer journeys to determine key activity triggers and pain points. Then, engineer encounters surround these moments of readiness with resonant imagery, like serving social ads to travellers about luggage brands when they check airline apps during trips.
With practice, brands can pinpoint which channels and contexts give images the highest chance of conveying branding ideals effectively to drive meaningful impact on consumer perceptions. But even with perfect distribution schemes, brands must continually optimise based on performance.
Continually Optimising Branding Images Based On Data
For long-term success, brands can't treat imaging strategies as “set it and forget it.” Regular analysis provides invaluable learning to help evolve visual assets and plans to boost performance.
Gather Performance Benchmarks
Establish clear metrics and benchmarks to gauge branding image resonance across platforms. Relevant qualitative and quantitative data points range from impression volumes and engagement ratios to customer survey feedback and brand lift studies. Determine which benchmarks offer actionable insights vs. vanity metrics.
Review Analytics Regularly
Continuously collect and evaluate metrics using analytics suites tailored to major channel types – like Google Analytics for the web, Sprout Social for social media, and consumer panel data for physical environments. Analyse performance trends, highlighting image types and contexts that over or under-index on branding impact KPIs.
Iterate & Test Refresh Images
Use learnings to iterate by A/B testing refreshed images against existing assets. Experiment with new concepts while giving legacy images second lives by adapting them to fit evolving trends and consumer preferences. Maintain rigorous measurement to determine relative performance boosts.
Update Guidelines Annually
Formalise proven image updates and best practices into updated style guides and distribution plans annually or biannually. Efficiently codify incremental optimisation gains without losing sight of long-term brand goals in response to temporary shifts.
With regular analysis and improvement, brands can ensure branding images stay culturally relevant, visually appealing, contextually fitting, and emotionally resonant amidst ever-changing consumer landscapes.
Now that we've explored what makes branding images impactful, along with strategies to craft, implement and optimise them, let's recap some key takeaways.
Key Takeaways for Developing Effective Branding Images
- Branding images like logos make lasting visual impressions that inform brand perceptions
- Simplicity, consistency, symbolism and appealing aesthetics make images engaging and identifiable.
- Categories like mascots, patterns, icons, and photography manifest branding principles
- Strategic guidelines and asset management ensure images remain aligned with evolving brands.
- Broad, consistent image libraries allow flexibility across campaigns and over time.
- Multi-channel distribution drives awareness by surrounding audiences ubiquitously.
- Continual optimisation keeps images and strategies fresh and high-performing
With a proper understanding of branding image principles and best practices, companies can develop versatile visual content to express brand identity clearly and forge powerful emotional connections.
Compelling imagery breathes life into branding, turning lifeless companies into beloved brands.
Frequently Asked Questions About Branding Images
Here are answers to some common FAQs about developing and implementing compelling branding images:
What makes an engaging, recognisable brand image?
Simplicity, consistency with other brand assets, relatable symbolism, visually pleasing aesthetics, and frequent exposure in relevant contexts.
How much should companies budget for branding images?
Industry benchmarks range from allocating 3-5% of total marketing budgets to branding image development and implementation to drive awareness.
Should companies manage branding images internally or via agencies?
A mix allows companies to maintain brand strategy control internally while leveraging external creative experts for fresh perspectives. However, consistency oversight and guidelines are crucial.
How often should branding images be updated?
Significant assets like logos can hold power for decades with occasional refreshing. Photography libraries and campaign imagery should update more frequently, ideally every 1-2 years, as consumer culture shifts.
What's better – consistent branding or constantly fresh images?
Striving for an optimal balance is critical. Companies need consistency to reinforce brand recognition and regular injections of fresh concepts to seem current and evolving.