Someone said it right, “Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Usually, when people think of creating a brand, the majority of them think about designing a Logo. Well, that is an important aspect of the process, but it is not the entirety of your brand. Even your venture or company is not a brand. What is then?
Sum of people’s perception of your products, vision, and content drive the brand. The visual parts of brand identity (colors + logo) and the packaging create an impression of your brand. Your brand’s tone, the message in its tagline and the way you display your content represents your brand. A brand is a promise.
Branding your bakery is like baking a cake. You need different layers of brand stationery followed by icing of marketing to complete the perfect dessert to present to your target audience. Bakeries can build more revenue by maintaining a solid and memorable brand. A brand is what your bakery is all about. With millions, if not billions, of bakeries trying to make a name for them, you need to make sure that your face stands out amongst the others.
I remember when I was working on Bakery’s logo which was only famous for its Rolling cakes. I was fascinated by the idea and thought that is something which can be included in the Logo. After all, it is one of the first things, people get intrigued by. I told my client, we can create a logo that is inspired from that and she can make this spiral a signature of every creation. Result – it worked wonders!
After all we as customers also notice the brands that have their own uniqueness from all the other bakers or even restaurants.
So, here are 6 tips for creating a solid and a Memorable Brand Identity for your bakery that I think can help you:
1. Point out your unique value proposition.
Whether you are the only bakery in the area, taking bulk, corporate cupcakes order or the only one having eggless rainbow pastries, pinpoint that! You should never begin marketing before you’ve determined the product and its unique value in the marketplace.
That’s a fancy way of saying you need to figure out what benefit you offer people and who are those people. Apart from that, you also need to think about what makes you different from the other thousands of bakeries around you. If you’re finding it difficult to answer these questions, you first decide why you’re passionate about what you do.
2. Establish your character personality.
Be it personally or professionally, your personality is an essential part of what makes you, YOU. Be it the Sincerity of delivering orders or the sophistication of your cakes while presenting, personality plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining memorable brands.
The character personality is what makes your business human in the eyes of your customers. To put it simply, when you define your brand personality, you give people a reason to choose you.
3. Use Effective Merchandising
Someone said it, “Merchandising an experience”. Creating an emotional and personal touch through a merchandising experience is what drives growth and a loyal customer base. Just look at the Starbucks coffee. By simply curating the same multi-sensory experience and ambience in all the stores, Starbucks created their familiar brand to catapult into global culture.
Effective bakery merchandising requires appealing to your customers on several levels.The Visuals often attract new bakery stores, and they’ll return if you offer quality products and promising customer service. Like simply try to incorporate hip items and flavours in with your standby. Checl out my other blog on Effective merchandising for tips https://de-sant.com/3535-2/
4. Be Focused
Nowadays, a lot of people are unfocused when it comes to Branding, trying to be “everything to everyone.” I would suggest focusing on one thing. Examine your Target audience and try to focus on that particular platform. For example, if you are taking the corporate bulk orders for Cupcakes, try to focus on LinkedIn instead of Pinterest.
Decide what your key target is and stick to it. Maybe you did fantastic campaign, and people recognized you. But that will be a short period if you don’t keep the focus and consistency in your next campaign. So, keep your message and content consistent with one niche topic to become memorable within a targeted community. The narrower and more focused your brand is, the easier it is for people to remember who you are. Focus on Brand Messaging simply builds Loyalty.
5. Be Genuine and Original
Be genuine. It will make it much easier to manage your brand daily. With the advancement in technology, people can easily spot a Copycat. Keeping your Bakery’s Branding real, honest, genuine and true is the one thing that makes you stand out of the crowd. Be it the packaging of your cakes or the campaigns you are running, your original content will help boost who you are.
Being Original and genuine is not about big budgets and scale. It is about teasing out the story that makes your brand memorable and special.
6. Let nostalgia inform your offerings
From Cheescake to Kitkat, bakeries are remaking everyone’s favorite childhood desserts and bakery items. They are huge crowd-pleasers, and bring in plenty of business: For example, a bakery near my house was born from this very inspiration, offering, in their words, “Nostalgia for the classical desserts” of our childhood—desserts that could only be found stateside, like Twinkies and Oreos.”
Kitschy and cute, offering reinterpretations of childhood classics is a great way to give old standbys your own personal spin, and attract both new and returning customers.
Now the question arises, How to stand out among the rest?
Well, the Possibilities are infinite — with all the design tools and programs plus printing techniques, you can be as innovative as you want. Some of the Bakery specific things that come under branding are:
1. Awesome Logo
Hire a professional to design your bakery logo, or you can also design the logo yourself using a DIY logo maker. Use negative space and minimal design principles.
2. Enticing Tagline
Apply the KISS formula: “keep it short and simple”. Use an online slogan maker for ideas only.
3. Visiting Card
Use techniques like die-cut, letterpress, foil printing, lamination, UV printing, typographic to make yours stand out. Alternately, make origami and magnetic cards.
4. Style of your cakes/baked goods
From cool to cute, any look can be achieved, but do have one. Use embossing or debossing to emphasize some sections.
5. Pulsating Packaging
Bakeries use wicket bags, micro-perforating and anti-mist coating options, flexographic printing. More ideas are: single-serving tray in a box, boxes becoming plates, printed tin packaging, and pop-up package design.
6. Branded Stickers
Create branded stickers of your bakery shop with customized illustrations, dingbats, and messages etc. Seal paper or plastic packaging with stickers, or personalize stickers to sell or distribute.
7. Branded Attire
Your employees play a key role in positioning your brand. Embellish them with your branding attire.
• Brand’s color palette for aprons snd caps
• Customized badges for employees
Further I have bifurcated the Branding tips into –
1. Online Presence
2.Promotion
3.Marketing
4. Other Interactive Activities
So, let’s ponder on each one by one.
Online Presence
In light of the current pandemic, many will increasingly rely on online solutions to make sales. Luckily, as a bakery business, you have plenty of ways to move your operations online and continue sharing your goods with customers. You can read in detail https://de-sant.com/how-to-stand-out-your-brand-on-digital-platforms/
- Actively Socialize
- Sweet Blogging
- Inviting Website https://de-sant.com/tips-to-setup-a-website-for-bakeries/
- Engaging Videos
Promotion
I am sure you know how a good deal in Christmas can bring joy. Well, it can be as jouful as lucrative to you as the owner. During the holiday season, promotions are the best way to get exicted the customers. The price, deals and discounts depend on the way you decided to position your bakery. My take –
- Special Loyalty Card
- Customized Bundles
- Holiday Discounts
Marketing
Anyone thinking about starting a bakery or sharing their homemade recipes with people should also consider starting an otstanding Marketing techniques. Include in your plan ads that are themed for special holidays, or one’s that sell your products all year round.
My take –
- Charming Print Ads
- Enchanting Story
Other Interactive Activities
- Intriguing Hoardings
- Wall Art
- Bakery On Wheels
- Midway Bakery
- Late Night Services for you Midnight cravings
- Interacative events nearby schools and colleges
Conclusion
One of the most important things with a brand, is consistency. Stark contrast or extreme changes to the way you are presenting yourself and your business to the world can be confusing and off putting to potential customers.
Afterall, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nor were the top brands. It takes time, effort, communication across the board. Of course, you may find yourself stuck at any stage. In that case, feel free to shoot me a WhatsApp Text @9667539053. I would love to help you untangle any creative challenges and make your Sweet Tooth Tingle!
