Everything You Need to Know About Brand Attributes
When you think of the phrase brand attributes, what comes to mind? You probably start thinking about the various solid elements that make up your brand as a whole. The name, logo, slogan, even a jingle or specific song – all of these are definitely considered attributes. But there’s more to consider than just your brand’s tangible elements. Brand attributes are part of a larger concept, and they encompass pretty much every part of your brand.
What are Brand Attributes?
Put simply, your brand’s attributes are its essence. The attributes are the parts that make up the whole; this means that while “attributes” can describe characteristics like your brand’s name and logo, it also includes abstract, not-tangible concepts. If you’re trying to figure out what some of the main attributes of your brand are, consider the who, what, why, and how aspects:
- Who is your brand? Who is your target audience?
- What is your brand offering?
- Why was your brand created? Why is it, and its mission, important and/or needed?
- How is your brand accomplishing its goals? How will it continue to provide for its patrons?
And that’s just a jumping off point. There’s near endless characteristics you can label as attributes of your brand. It all just comes down to finding the right ones that fit.
Examples of Brand Attributes
While you may understand that the attributes are the core values that make up a brand, what are they really? Here’s some big ones that every business owner should be taking into account:
- Personality. Humanization through personality is essential to connecting and communicating with your customer base. A set personality not only shapes the public’s perception of your brand, but also establishes an emotional connection. When the customer feels that they can relate to the traits the brand has, they’re more inclined to associate themselves with it.
- Positioning & Placement. To properly position a brand is to create a space in the market that’s uniquely your brand’s. It’s similar to finding your niche, but also involves controlling where the brand occupies the customers mind as well. Distinguishing your brand with positioning techniques can be the difference between standing out as the go-to brand for your product and just being another competitor in an over-saturated market.
- Uniqueness. In a vein similar to positioning, you want your brand to be unique. By standing out, you’re actively setting yourself apart from competitors. It’s part of human nature to crave new, exciting ideas, concepts, and experiences; By being unique, you’re appealing to this part of the customer.
- Consistency. Being consistent is all about not straying from the brand’s established core values. When the customer sees that you stick by your word and what you stand for, they’re more likely to trust the brand and return to it.
- Relevancy. At its core, any brand’s mission can be boiled down to providing the customer with what they want or need. Consider the concept of supply and demand – if there’s high demand for a product or service, it’s in a brand’s best interest to supply it! Meeting the customer’s needs is ultimately what keeps a brand relevant and fresh in consumers minds.
- Credibility. It’s no secret that many consumers can find it hard to trust a brand as having their best interests in mind. That’s why it’s important to establish credibility for your company. You may even want to consider it to be one of the trademarks of your brand – being someone the customer can count on, time and time again. By proving to your customers that you can reliably deliver the product or service you offer at the level of quality they expect, you become credible.
Why are Brand Attributes Important?
Your brand’s attributes are what makes up it’s identity. Without a solid identity, there isn’t really a brand to begin with. By establishing your attributes, you’re not only making the brand recognizable to the consumer but also making it easier for yourself to make brand decisions. Take advertising for example. When creating an effective advertisement, there’s a lot you need to consider. What voice does your brand have? What’s its style? How are its values and beliefs communicated to the consumer? The answers to all these questions lie right in brand identity, and more importantly, the attributes that make it up.
It doesn’t just end at advertising, either. Pretty much every facet of a brand is planned with it’s chosen attributes in mind. Marketing techniques, sales activities, and brand artwork are all concrete parts of the brand that are decided using the attributes.
As a real world example, take Apple for instance. Its advertisements and marketing campaigns portray a brand that’s future-forward and always pushing the limits of what technology can be. Likewise, they use a color palette consisting of mostly muted colors- cool, sleek greys and neutral tones, with just a pop of color when necessary. This effectively gives off the impression that they’re mature, serious (but not too much so), and knowledgeable. That’s a very simple description of Apple’s identity as a brand, and it’s all made up of those core attributes.
Brand Attributes and Authenticity
When establishing a set of attributes, it’s important to make sure they align with your brand’s core values. A brand offering kid’s art supplies, for example, isn’t going to want to come off as super-scientific and serious; attributes like playfulness and creativity are more fitting. Likewise, if a brand decides sustainability should be one of their main attributes, the company should be doing everything it can to uphold that promise. Many “sustainable” brands honor this by giving their customers the facts with no fluff. They let the consumer see all the same data the people on the inside would, and are open and transparent about their sustainability practices. This is a particularly strong example of brand authenticity within attributes, because that’s what it’s really all about – being honest with the consumer and as a result, establishing trust.