What is Construction Branding?

The word 'branding' is thrown around quite a bit these days, but what does it really mean? Simply put, branding is what you want people to think of when they hear your business name. It's the reputation that your company wants to convey to those who look at your business. So let's jump into what the foundation of branding is.

Your identity, or more commonly known as your branding. It is a build-up of everything that your construction firm does and represents, the logo, the uniforms, the level of work that you supply and even the way you answer your emails.

Some companies within the construction industry nail their branding, but I'm here to be honest and I have to admit that a solid 90% of what we have seen from construction businesses it is very, very poor, which is really unfortunate for them yet fantastic news to you, where your competitors fail, you can succeed.

There is more to it than you would expect and is a crucial part of the business that is often extremely overlooked.

When you understand the true value of branding, it can all seem a bit overwhelming, but hold onto this keynote. Branding speaks volumes about your business and what it delivers.

In short, it’s the way your clients perceive you. All of us have massive amounts of competition out there, but customers are looking for businesses in which they can emotionally connect with. A strong brand is able to stand out in a densely crowded marketplace. People fall in love with brands, trust them, and believe in their values. How a brand is perceived by its audience defines its success, regardless of the industry or size.

Why is building a construction brand important?

Imagine if you were dealing with a company with a poorly put together website, broken buttons, poor logo design, everything is blurred and pixelated. It would give a terrible user experience and this is the first impression a potential client is having with the company. This instantly creates a negative first impression of an unprofessional, low-quality company, the viewer can only expect the same for the craftmanship.

Good branding proves that you deliver a quality service, it proves that you are a competent business and deserves recognition. People tend to do business with companies they are familiar with, if your branding is consistent and easy to recognise, it can help people feel more comfortable and trust what you are offering.

Here are a few reasons why great branding is a necessity:

• Your brand represents you and your promise
• A strong brand generates referrals
• Generates recurring revenue & upsell opportunities
• Creates brand equity
• A strong brand generates customer loyalty
• Provides clarity and connects emotionally with the client
• Creates free brand awareness.

‍How do I build a Fantastic Construction Brand?

Building your branding is the process of building a visual identity that presents your business values through the use of your logo, typeface, colours and so on. So it is clear to see that branding goes way past the logo.

When you think about your brand, you want to think closely about what your business means to you, and the impact that you want to have upon your customers' lives. This might sound gimmicky but this is how people will truly be seeing your business. Once you understand what you want to say, it is time to think about how that message will be presented

Commercial vs Domestic Construction Branding Example

Let's run through a short example of how a commercial business might want to represent itself differently from a domestic business.

The first step in building any identity is understanding the target audience, understanding what your clients want and connect with.

A domestic audience is letting people into their homes, trusting them around their families. You need to build trust and care into your branding, they need to know that you're not going to do a poor job, leave rubbish everywhere, drag muddy boots across the house, or even worse, make a hazard due to poor craftsmanship. Your goal for branding around this audience is to show care, trust and happiness throughout your branding. Showcase happy families on your website, professional yet caring logo design and so on.

A commercial audience is rather different, it's not so much about the happy, caring vibe but more about delivering a professional, competent service. High quality, no messing about. I like to call this the Mercedes look. Clean, Sophisticated and means business.  

The two different ways both present a high-quality brand and a great end product, because why wouldn't it, but we are altering the way we present our business to create a closer connection with the end client, making us more memorable and leading to more sales.

Visual Identity of Your Construction Business

Every construction business and brand will need different forms of visual identity, however, I will bring together the most important and common forms that a construction company needs and break down the psychological factors of visual components.

Construction Logo

The logo is the most common thing people think of when it comes to branding and it is for good reasoning. Your logo is on your uniforms, your social media accounts, your vans, your website, your leaflets, etc. It is normally the first impression a person will have with your business. A construction company logo should be strong and eye-catching, it needs to stand out against the rest of your competition and emotionally connect with your audience.

Your logo doesn't always need to say exactly what you do, a plumber does not need a picture of a wrench or a leaky pipe to show what they do, it's more about what the logo represents and the first impression it would give to someone.

Let's go over Saint Financial Groups logo, the Saint Bird.

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Pretty simplistic, nothing to complex. However, our logo does not actually represent us or Saint as a business. It represents our clients.

The Dove - represents freedom and peace of mind among our clients and the lives they live.

The Halo - Represent being a Saint and taking that step no one else would. Following your heart and passion, this could mean leading your family, your goals or even your community.

The Colour Blue - The unique blue colour that we use has is a powerful colour that is very vibrant, therefore being memorable. Blue also has the psychological traits of being trustworthy, yet modern and advanced. (Popular Examples - Dell computers, Facebook, Intel, Paypal, Visa)

A Further dive into Colour theory and what colours mean

Colour is the best way to communicate emotions! Colour is one of the most important building blocks to your business identity. Here are some examples of what different colours mean:

• Red - Danger / Love
• Orange - Joyful / Creative
• Yellow - Energy / Caution
• Green - Money / Growth
• Blue - Trust / Dedication
• Purple - Royal / Magical
• Pink - Calmness / Optimism
• Black - Mystery / Death

Yellow and black is very common in the construction industry, however, be wary of it as a construction business, although you might connect to it as being construction-focused, a lot of your audience would connect to it as being a warning or danger ahead. Something to keep in mind.

In addition, this article was written for the UK Market, across the globe there are many different cultures where colours mean very different things.

A clear example of this is how white is a colour of weddings, happiness, purity, etc in western society, however, if we go east, white means death, mourning and humility in many Asian cultures. So always bear in mind colours and their psychological meanings.

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Fonts and typography

The font is all about the message you are delivering, it communicates the brand’s personality very effectively BUT also how a message is received. We can use the exact text, word for word, and the power of a font change can change the entire meaning behind it.

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Because human beings respond to visuals such as the above in such an emotional way, designers can manipulate the psychological responses of their viewers by making informed choices about the design. This statement follows through everything in design.

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Personality

The personality of your business is important, it is as I mentioned earlier, People fall in love with brands, trust them, and believe in their values. Every brand has a personality to connect with their target audience, this is to both relate and develop trust with the audience. The personality of your brand is a strong point and it flows through everything from your logo, typography and the way you pick up the phone. Here are some examples that you can see in massive brands.

• Sophisticated - Rolex, Gucci, Apple
• Sincerity - Disney, Amazon, Cadbury
• Competence - Google, Intel, Microsoft
• Excitement - Tesla, Redbull, Coca-Cola
• Ruggedness - Timberland, Jeep, North Face
• Rebel - DC Shoes, Vans, Harley Davidson

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Why is consistency important with identity design and branding?

If you are not consistent with your branding, it will never become memorable and recognisable. Your branding should be consistent throughout everything you do, from invoices to van livery to the way you dress.

The reputation of your branding will slowly become familiar with your clients and local area, and when you have achieved this, you will develop trust and confidence with your clients meanwhile dominating the local area due to your fantastic brand awareness.

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‍It takes 5-7 impressions for people to remember your brand.

Colour improves Brand recognition by up to 80%

73% of consumers love a brand because of helpful customer service

Presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.

89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values.

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How to build a strong construction brand

Throughout this article, I have been speaking about values and what your business represent, you should have these written out and clearly defined. It does not matter that nobody sees them, it matters because this is what you embed into the company. This task comes before any logo design or web design. There is no point getting someone to design you a website and then defining your audience and values, they just won't work together and your goals will be misdirected.

How do I define my business values?

• Who is your target audience - Who exactly do you want to carry out work for? What kind of work? How long are the projects?
• What exactly are you delivering? - Try not to say, I build and refurb kitchens. Go more in-depth, why does the customer want a new kitchen, creating wonderful new food, creating families memories, etc.
• Differentiate from competitors - What makes you unique? Why should they choose you?
• Amplify your unique personality - How are you going to connect with people on an emotional level?
• Know your geographic location - What type of work is your local area looking for? Do you want high-end houses? Are you focusing on the right area?

Answering these points in detail will give you most of the information that you need to know about defining your audience and then you can move on to defining values that become fundamental to your business core and everything that you do.

Why should you work with a professional designer built around the Construction industry?

We understand the smallest details of successful branding and we understand the construction industry. We understand the stresses the industry brings and the challenges that arises.

We work with You as a partner, we succeed when you succeed so we put in every effort that we possibly can in order to make that happen. We are a no-jargon and honest agency with integrity being one of our strongest values.

Talk to the Construction Media & Marketing Team today to start your journey to success!

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