As you read this article, you may notice the typography which was carefully selected to reflect our brand throughout this text. On the other hand, you may not have, as typography is a more subtle part of branding that does not necessarily grab your immediate attention. However, when used consistently, typography, which is the arrangement of type and encompasses the typeface, font, and font family, reinforces your brand in the mind of the reader.

While typography may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think about branding, when used effectively it has a positive impact on your audience, this is according to an MIT study that found that unappealing fonts reflect badly on the reader’s emotional response to content. Various print publications such as magazines, newspapers, and books understand the value of typography, each medium uses subtle differences to differentiate from other publications, but all select typography that will hold the reader’s attention and not distract from the content.

When compared to a logo and other visual elements of a brand, such as colour and imagery, typography may seem to be overlooked by the audience, but with the growth in digital transformation, customers are increasingly engaging with brands across various digital platforms and as such, typography needs to be a key component to all print and on-screen communications, from your letterheads to email correspondence.

Typography and your brand

Typography is important to your brand and forms part of its visual identity which is important for brand building and brand recall. This is supported by the picture superiority effect, which identifies that people recall the visual stimuli of your brand more than words. For this reason, when you see a billboard advert for a brand like Nando’s, without reading the text or seeing the logo, you would immediately recognise the brand that the font is associated with. In addition, if you saw the Nando’s font being used by a financial brand such as ABSA or Nedbank, you would question whether the brand was the right fit for you as the typography does not reflect the offering according to your expectations of a financial brand.

As such, typography, is an important component of branding and is believed to serve four purposes: distinction, consistency, coherence, and communication. This is because the right typography aligns with the brand purpose while enhancing the brand personality. When used consistently, customers come to recognise a brand from the font that they use in their advertising and communications.

Although digital platforms previously hampered the ability to use typography, the growth in digital transformation has driven the popularity of digital platforms as a preferred method of communication, as such more options are becoming available for brands to incorporate typography across platforms which means that brands can now use custom typography to distinguish from other brands in all correspondence.

Typography differentiates email correspondence

As email is a popular choice for customer correspondence, this method of communication should incorporate the company brand elements from the logo to the colour and even the typography, which should be standard across the entire organisation.

Standard fonts such as Times New Roman and Arial, have dominated email correspondence for many years thanks to their ability to be easy to read on low-resolution screens. However, as screen resolutions improve, companies are now spoilt for choice with a variety of attractive, standardised fonts that are viewed the same on the sender’s and recipient’s screens. While these fonts are typically best used in the body of an email, companies should use decorative typefaces for their logo[4], and if they have a custom font, it should be used in all email banners and signatures to reinforce the brand across all email correspondence.

Typography provides consistency across platforms

Although colour is highly regarded in branding and companies pay close attention to the Pantone used across branding materials and documents, typography provides consistency across all platforms where colour can fall short. For example, whether looking at typography on a screen or a sheet of paper, it remains consistent. Colour, on the other hand, may appear different on different screens and when printed out using different printers.

With this in mind, typography is more resilient than colour and as it is colour-agnostic, is an easily identified brand element even when used in black and white. As such all company documents and emails should incorporate a brand’s typography to enhance the brand and deliver a consistent experience across all customer communications.

With BrandMail, companies can use custom fonts within email signatures and banners to deliver consistent branding in every customer interaction. Further standardised fonts are managed centrally along with the brand standards to ensure that every email sent using BrandMail is consistently on brand every time.

Click here for more information about BrandMail.

When last did you receive an email and want to phone the sender only to find that they did not include their contact number on their email? Or have you received an email where the signature didn't include sender details or a company name but rather had an image of a hand holding a feather quill and a bible verse? Have you ever received an email with a beautifully designed signature but when you tried to click on it, it wasn’t functional?

To build your company’s brand using email, a standard signature should be used across the organisation. This signature should include visual elements such as the logo and the organisation’s primary fonts which will set the email apart from other brands. These signatures should be consistent across the company and meet the requirements of different business units and regions. For example, the signature could include different contact numbers for different departments so that when customers contact the company they can access the correct details from the email signature such as a PA’s contact number or a specific department’s contact numbers that can assist with their particular query.

The email signature should include relevant information about the company and the sender, such as the sender’s name, title, telephone numbers, the company’s website address, physical address and social media details. These details provide necessary information to the recipient and also add a layer of verification.  Additional verification mechanisms could be used to give added peace of mind to the recipient that the email did, in fact, come from the company it says it did. These could include a click-through from the email signature to a page which includes the sender’s picture and relevant experience.

Email signatures should be tamperproof to prevent employees from making changes to any of the details without authorisation, such as the job title. However, it should allow for some flexibility to make changes to signatures as necessary, for example, if an employee is promoted and wants to update their title, this should be easy to implement. While HTML signatures are often used by businesses, they can present a security risk for the company and recipients. Further employees can change their details, which can be a risk for the organisation.

As many people access emails on various devices, such as laptops and mobile phones, email signatures should display consistently across devices and platforms, ensuring the recipient gets the same experience regardless of how they receive and view the email. It is important to note that in instances where someone sends an email on behalf of someone else, that it is disclosed upfront as this also helps to establish trust with recipients.

While it is a great branding tool, an email signature also provides additional value to recipients and should be included at the bottom of every single email for both internal and external audiences on original emails and replies. Including the email signature on every email is the first step to establishing trust with your customers when using email communication.

We uncover the role of the email disclaimer in our next post. In the meantime, if you want to overcome brand consistency challenges with a secure, easy-to-use solution read more about BrandMail here.

At this uncertain time, when businesses are cost-cutting and marketers are being tasked with reassessing their marketing campaigns, many marketing departments are questioning whether they should continue with their planned advertising campaigns and risk being seen as insensitive to the current situation, or go dark when customers are looking for familiarity and stability.

History shows us that companies typically opt to go dark during times of crisis to avoid positioning the brand negatively. However, this approach does more damage than good. Those companies that continue with their marketing campaigns are viewed more positively and survive a crisis better than those that don’t.

People have a personal connection with the brands they use regularly.  During uncertain times they rely on these brands to continue with their marketing campaigns and keep communication channels open to maintain a relationship of trust. This is supported by a Warc study, which found that in this period of the Covid-19 pandemic only 8% of consumers have expected brands to stop advertising.

The relationship customers have with brands is about more than a transaction and during a crisis or pandemic customers look for an indication that the brands they support will continue to exist beyond the current challenges. Engagement with customers at this time should go back to three fundamentals: brand, strategy and customer.

YOUR BRAND PURPOSE MATTERS

Branding at its core is about connecting with people and this remains true during a time of crisis or pandemic. At such a time it is most important for companies to live their brand purpose and for their customers to see this. The brand purpose reinforces the brand’s reason for being and is why customers connect with the brand on an emotional level.

It is also important that companies remain true to their brand values and use this time to add value to their customers’ lives.  According to research findings from Opinium during the coronavirus pandemic people are looking for brands to keep communicating about topics other than the pandemic and provide escapism through topics that are relevant to the brand. For example, Opinium found that customers want business updates, advice on dealing with the crisis and products and services that may be useful. However, beyond this customers want to know that the brands they trust are making a difference to the lives of the broader community, including their employees.

SHARE YOUR STRATEGY

Your strategy is important to your company and your customers. This is particularly true when they are surrounded by uncertainty. At this time customers are worried about job security, illness and poverty and are looking at brands to share insight into how they are dealing with the pandemic and what they are doing to get through the crisis.

Consumers are looking for good news stories amid the worry and want to know that companies have plans in place to protect the organisation, its employees and its brands. Customers want stories about innovations, are looking for inspiring ideas from a brand and want to know how companies are making a difference in their communities and within the organisation.

According to Opinium, customers want to hear from the CEO (30%) and frontline staff (37%) as they seek information about company strategy, and want to know that employees are being taken care of. This is supported by Fabrik Brands stating that customers want to see that you care about their needs as well as that of their employees and they are looking for evidence that leaders of companies are putting the needs of their employees first too.

CUSTOMERS WANT TO CONNECT

Branding is about connecting with people and building a relationship of trust. While the way we do business has changed how we connect with people, the connection still remains key for customers. With budgets being cut and customers being inundated with information about Covid-19, companies need to find cost-effective ways to connect with their customers through the clutter.

Customers are looking for sincere, authentic brand communications from the brands they trust. While budgets might be tight at this time, connecting with customers doesn’t need to be expensive. Simplicity and consistency in communications are sufficient to keep a connection with customers, providing certainty and making customers feel secure during these uncertain times.