How assets define your brand

How do you define your B2B brand? What if we told you your brand can’t be described in words — not completely, anyway — and instead it gets defined every single time you share an image, package a product, or post an article on your website?

Each brand asset is a touchpoint in your audience’s perception of your brand. That means their perception has the potential to shift every time they see, read, or hear something new from you, and that perception may not match the definition you hoped to establish.

That gap widens when brand assets lack unity. Think of each asset as one voice in a chorus. If the voices sing different lyrics or some are off-key, the tune gets tougher to discern and the listener’s experience suffers.

That’s why we want to talk about harmonizing your brand assets to make sure they truly amplify the message you want to send.

What are brand assets, anyway?

Brand assets are visual or non-visual marketing elements that define how your brand is perceived and recognized by your audience, both online and offline. When they’re consistent and well-executed, assets support a strong brand identity, build trust and familiarity, and set you apart from competitors.

Visual components

On some level, all brand assets play into the audience’s emotions and instincts, but visuals are often the most powerful. Components like logos, colour palettes, photographs, videos, fonts, typography, illustrations and graphics, and email templates can be designed to evoke all kinds of feelings.

But how? That’s a secret sauce known to branding and design experts, who understand how to combine techniques like hue, contrast, shape, composition, and perspective to create cohesive visuals that communicate on a subconscious level.

The caveat? Compared to other types of assets, visuals run a bigger risk of confusing your brand with a competitor’s. It’s critical to create visuals that differentiate your brand and spark instant recognition.

Non-visual components

Non-visual assets can be more subtle, but they still provide multiple touchpoints that connect back to your brand’s definition. These components include the company name, slogans and taglines, music and sound effects, tone and voice, and mission and vision statements.

Like visuals, these elements also need to match. Does relaxed background music fit when your video uses fast cuts and upbeat visuals? Does a professional, no-nonsense tone of writing make sense when your logo and colour palette seem friendly and creative?

The subtlety of these components means they don’t always register with viewers on a conscious level — in other words, most non-marketing people won’t sit there and admire how well your company slogan delivers its mission or vision. When these elements succeed or fail, they often do so on a subconscious level. A mismatch can cause dissonance — a feeling that something is just “off” — which either confuses your audience or fails to make any impression at all.

Keeping assets unified

Chances are you have multiple collaborators working on brand assets, and they’re being shared across multiple channels in various formats. The best way to keep assets consistent is to establish and follow a set of brand guidelines.

Brand guidelines are like a rulebook for creating brand assets. Things like logo usage, colour palette, tone and voice, and even musical choices can be set in stone within this document to keep everyone on the same page.

Once your guidelines are set, there are plenty of great tools out there to simplify the process of creating on-brand assets. Many platforms let you import elements like your brand’s font, palette, and icons for easy editing.

If you’re not sure how well your brand assets work together, a brand audit may be in order. This is when a design and branding expert reviews your assets and evaluates their consistency and effectiveness, both individually and as a whole. The expert can then make recommendations to ensure the assets are as impactful, unified, and on-brand as possible.