Stand Out in Your Market: 12 Sweet Branding Trends

Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash If I see another boxy advert, without movement or life, I will scream. Sure, if you have a super-conservative brand (think bank, investment firm, attorney, auditor…), and you want to SCREAM “tradition, we never change, steady as a rock, fun-police,” then it’s your role to be dull blue-suit no personality. For the rest of us, attracting live clients and customers is an exciting challenge. So, step up and look at this year’s brand trends: Example: You are about to release your summer recipes. Try a poll: What’s your favorite summer dessert? We’ll feature the winner on the book’s cover!  Best in Class: Heineken’s Go Places interview to learn about their applicants. You can take the interview here. 2. Daring Nostalgia. Incorporating bubble-gum colors (blah), neon and chunky fonts, mascots like Mr. Peanut, and psychedelia are in. Think 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Reference yesteryear and earn points. Example: Show a video of photo developing next to a video showing image editing. Talk about the possibilities. Best in Class: Adobe’s love of Bob Ross. 3. Powerful Use of Color. Impactful, clashing, and contrasting tones (like my brand colors) will stand out. The goal is to boost instant recognition. Example: You may not want to rebrand and change your company colors, but you can incorporate powerful colors in your advertising. Best in Class: Pantone’s Viva Megenta. 4. Anti-design. Return to the 90s, mix things up — break design rules with blended font families, misplaced pixels, and overlaid visuals. Think grunge, rave, and controversy. Best in Class: Too many to mention! 5. New Eco. We want to protect the planet. But we are setting aside the green and brown go-to and focusing on minimalistic design. Think elegant and understated. Recycled packaging. The vital point: Your product must be eco-friendly or your branding will fail. Best in Class: The Body Shop Example: Consider eco branding for personal care products, clothing, food, and gardening businesses. Stress your recyclable packaging! 6. Animated Logos. Think the Google “G.” Video has long topped still images. The same is applying to logography. Think liquid and alive. You can find programs online, like Canva, to help you animate your current logo for digital use. Best in Class: Lots of examples from 99 Designs. 7. Statement Typography. Mismatched fonts, motion effects, and odd placement are key. 3D typography and san serifs are alive and well. For inspiration, peruse these fonts from Juke Box Print. 8. Humanized Brands. Along the authenticity train track, get raw, honest, and candid tone. Speak true. Be honest. This trend directly connects with customer and client values and is a key to relationship creation and maintenance. But you don’t need to change your brand strategy! A shift in your approach in your advertising and on social media can show your human side. A simple behind-the-scenes video or photos from the company picnic can do the trick! 9. Humor & Satire. A direct route to humanizing one’s brand, the use of humor and satire builds authentic conversation and relatability. Best in Show: Dollar Shave Club and Dissolves Generic Millennial Ad. 10. User-Generated Content. Invite your customers and clients to post their experiences–visually and verbally. Not only does this build connection through a conversation, but also intensifies loyalty. Your customer becomes part of the plan. Example: Work with your web designer or social media manager to incorporate an interactive platform. Encourage customers or clients to respond to questions or enter contests with images and video. Amazon has mastered this tool by encouraging customers to post images of purchased products, no matter the experience! 11. Mission First Branding. Akin to eco-branding and humanized branding, mission first branding uses company values throughout all efforts. Example: You have donated a portion of your profits to animal shelters for twenty years. Let your customers know! Use a puppy mascot — tell how you helped. Just ensure you aligned your effort with your brand (don’t boast you are eco-friendly and dump chemicals in the nearest river!) Example: A photographer friend specializes in professional headshots and school photography. For teacher’s day, she provides free headshots. She discounts birthday sessions for students. She offers sessions at the library on reading days — family and education friendly! 12. Retro Collage. Tare the edges. Randomize your images. Mix your media. Chanel is embracing this trend, so I guess it appeals. Get some stickers. Here are some great ideas to inspire you. I’m not a big fan. But I also refuse to scrapbook no matter who invites me to one of those scrapbooking groups.  Which leads me to my last point and characteristic reflective, possibly disregarding, opinion: Trends are fun–but if you cannot incorporate a trend effectively into your brand identity or marketing plan, skip it.

Gaining an Edge with 2023 Consumer Trends

I’ve read several consumer reports to discover how to help my clients rock their marketing efforts – so I thought I would share them with you. We should begin with the umbrella principles for today’s marketing arena: Personalize content and emotionally connect with your audience. To personalize, you must first: Know thy audience. You must speak to your audience in a way that appeals to them. If you’re Harley Davidson, you’re not posting images of pretty tea parties! You must speak to your people. According to the 2023 Consumer Trends Index, irrelevant content annoys 49% of consumers. Give your people what they want (not what you think they want). I’m reminded of a communication theory: Communication Accommodation. You want to communicate with another person in a way he or she understands and appreciates. You don’t, for example, chat it up when arguing a case in front of a judge. Or write a conversational piece for sophisticated investors. But you don’t want a law review article style piece if you’re selling makeup! If you don’t know your audience – what they like, what they do, where they are hanging out – you have some work to do! Second: Connect with thy audience. Romance them. The world of place it and forget it for marketing and advertising is long gone. And, I laugh here, the world of logical appeals is dead (for the masses, anyway). You must – must – evoke an emotional response that results in a conversation. Consider clicks, comments, follows, shares, and, ultimately, purchases, as feedback. If you send out content and hear crickets, your communication failed. No conversation. That’s bad. And once that audience member sends feedback, you must engage: Thank them, reach out, send an offer. Keep it going! Now, the nitty-gritty. What should you do to increase your marketing impact? (AKA be profitable) Email is the most cost-effective and powerful channel. If you do one thing this year, work on building and nurturing your email list. But never cast and blast. Return to the umbrella principles: Know your market and know what they want to hear. Give your audience value. Mobile is the tool. 55% of consumers use their phone to read content and to research purchases. Not only should your content – including your website – be mobile responsive, but also every piece of content you offer should be mobile accessible. If you would like help to implement these findings, reach out. Because you have enough to do without dealing with this tech crap.