Branding 101:
Brand Identity
When you think of the swoosh, the mouse ears, or the golden arches, you don’t need anyone to tell you which brands those belong to. Nike, Disney, McDonald’s—these companies don’t just sell products, they sell identities so recognizable that you could probably spot them in your sleep. That’s the power of a well-built brand identity. It sticks with you, shapes your perceptions, and keeps you coming back for more.
In fact, branding is often valuable enough on its own that companies have been bought out just for their names, logos, and customer recognition. And it makes sense. Our buying decisions are rarely just about the product. For example, when you’re choosing between two coffee shops, you’re not only weighing price or convenience. You’re also deciding whose vibe you want to buy into. Do you want the sleek, modern shop with minimalist decor or the cozy corner café that smells like fresh scones and knows your name by your second visit? That decision is driven by brand identity.
So, what exactly is a brand identity, and how do you build one that works? To make this easier and a little more fun, let’s imagine a coffee shop. We’ll walk through the basics of brand identity using our fictional café—Driftwood Coffee Roasters—as a guide.
What is brand identity?
At its core, brand identity is how your business introduces itself to the world and how the world remembers you. It’s the collection of elements, both visual and non-visual, that express what your brand stands for and set it apart from the competition.
Think of your brand as a person. Just like people, brands have personalities: quirks, styles, voices, and values that shape how they move through the world. Brand identity is the north star that keeps everything aligned. Whether it’s your website, your social media, your signage, or your employees, ideally, they’re all telling the same story and working toward the same mission.
Let’s use Driftwood Coffee Roasters as an example. Their brand identity isn’t just a hand-drawn driftwood-and-bean logo and a palette of sandy neutrals and ocean blues. It’s the way the barista greets you with a “Hey, glad you drifted in today.” It’s the specialty “High Tide Latte” on the menu and the playful “Espresso yourself today” on their social media posts. It’s the experience of cozying into a wood-accented space that feels warm but not fussy, and the expectation that your coffee will be carefully sourced and expertly brewed. Driftwood’s brand identity tells customers: this is a place where you can slow down, savor your coffee, and feel the adventure and inspiration of the natural world while you sip your latte.
The Elements of Brand Identity
A full brand identity has many moving parts, but here are the big ones:
Name
The starting point. A name should capture your essence while being memorable. Driftwood Coffee Roasters’ name ties back to its coastal, grounded vibe.
Visuals
This is the logo, color palette, typography, and design system that visually unify the brand. For Driftwood, that means earthy browns, ocean blues, handwritten fonts, and design elements that balance modern polish with natural texture.
Voice
Voice is your brand’s personality in written and verbal form. Driftwood’s voice is approachable, friendly, and a little witty.
Tone
Tone is how that voice flexes depending on context. On Instagram, Driftwood might be playful; on their website, more informative but still warm; in-store, conversational and welcoming. (“Thanks for drifting in today!”)
Messaging
The consistency of how voice and tone come together across touchpoints. Driftwood’s messaging revolves around creativity, enjoying the journey, and savoring craft coffee.
Experience
This is everything that involves how customers interact with your brand, from your shop layout to your customer service. Driftwood’s consistent use of natural textures, warm greetings, and knowledgeable baristas reinforces its identity of being both cozy and quality.
When all these pieces work together, brand identity becomes more than a surface-level aesthetic. It’s a holistic experience that makes customers not just buy from you, but remember you.
When should you refresh your brand identity?
Even the best brands need a checkup now and then. A brand identity that once felt fresh and relevant can eventually start to feel dated, or worse, forgettable.
Some common reasons businesses hit the “refresh” button include:
- Your identity feels stale.
Trends change, and what felt modern ten years ago may now look stuck in the past.
- Big changes in leadership or ownership.
Mergers, acquisitions, or new leadership often call for a refreshed identity that represents the combined vision.
- You never really had a brand identity to begin with.
Some businesses launch without a cohesive brand identity and eventually realize they need something more intentional.
- You’ve expanded.
If you started as a single product or service and now offer more, your brand identity might need to stretch to cover that growth.
- The market has shifted.
What worked for your audience five years ago might not work for them today.
- New competition.
Fresh competitors in your space can make your brand identity feel less distinctive.
Some of the benefits of a brand identity refresh include:
- Perceived value
A strong identity makes your business feel worth more than just the product itself. Think about Driftwood Coffee. Customers aren’t just paying for beans in a cup. They’re paying for a coastal, craft-inspired experience that feels intentional and premium.
- Loyal customers
Consistency builds trust. When your identity is clear and aligned across every touchpoint, people know what to expect, and that keeps them coming back.
- Market protection
A sharp, recognizable identity makes it harder for competitors to blend in or steal attention. Driftwood’s warm, ocean-inspired personality stands out compared to another generic “Downtown Coffee Co.”
- Engaged employees
A well-defined brand identity gives your team a shared sense of purpose and direction. When employees understand the story they’re helping tell, they become stronger ambassadors for the brand.
It’s also important to remember that brand identity is just one piece of your overall brand strategy. If identity is your look, voice, and personality, strategy is the compass that ensures everything is pointing in the same direction. Without that compass, you risk building a brand that looks good on the surface but doesn’t resonate or hold together long-term.
How to build a brand identity
Creating a brand identity isn’t about slapping a logo on your business and calling it a day. It’s about digging deep into who you are, what you stand for, and how you want people to experience your brand. Think of it as getting to know your brand the way you’d get to know a person: their quirks, their strengths, and their place in the world.
Here are some key questions to get you started:
- What is our brand’s personality? What traits and qualities form our character?
- What are our key offerings, and how do we want customers to see them?
- What is our mission and vision? What drives us day to day, and where are we headed in the future?
- What are we particularly good at? What makes us better—or at least different—than the competition?
- Who is our ideal customer? What do they care about, and what kind of messaging will connect with them (or push them away)?
- What’s our intended position in the market and in customers’ hearts and minds?
- What’s distinctive about how we communicate and express ourselves?
- What do customers already recognize about our brand?
- What’s our workplace culture like?
- Where do we sit in the market today, and where do we want to be in the future?
When Driftwood Coffee Roasters asks themselves these questions, their answers start to give their identity shape:
- Personality: Warm, nature-lovers, slightly witty, grounded in craft.
- Key offerings: Small-batch, coastal-inspired coffee with a focus on slowing down and savoring the moment.
- Mission: To create a space where people can recharge, create, and enjoy coffee with intention.
- Strengths: High-quality sourcing, a welcoming atmosphere, and an engaging brand voice.
- Ideal customer: Young professionals and creatives who appreciate both good design and good coffee.
- Market position: Not the cheapest coffee in town, but the highest quality and the most cohesive experience.
Don’t Forget the Research
Introspection is just the start. Building a strong brand identity requires market research, too. You’ll want to:
- Understand who your competition is and what their identities look like, so you can find gaps to stand out.
- Get clear on your ideal customers—their values, preferences, and pain points.
- Stay current on emerging trends in your industry so your brand feels fresh, not dated.
For Driftwood, research means looking at what other coffee shops in town are doing. Many are positioning themselves as ultra-modern, minimalist, or budget-friendly. The gap? A warm, craft-driven café with a down-to-earth personality.
How to make your brand identity successful
So, you’ve built a brand identity—now how do you make sure it actually works? A strong identity isn’t something you just set and forget. It takes commitment, consistency, and a little forward-thinking.
It starts from the inside
The first step is buy-in. Leadership has to not only believe in the brand identity but embody it, because if your leaders don’t live it, no one else will. Once it starts at the top, it trickles down to the rest of the team. Everybody needs to be beating the same drum.
At Driftwood Coffee Roasters, for example, the owners don’t just talk about creating a warm, intentional space. They make sure their baristas are trained to greet customers in that same spirit. The staff culture reflects the brand, which means customers feel it the moment they walk in the door.
Keep it consistent
Consistency is where trust is built. Every interaction, whether it’s in-store, online, or on a to-go cup, should feel like it comes from the same place. According to research from Lucidpress, brands that maintain a consistent identity see revenue increase by 10–20%. That’s not just good design; that’s measurable business impact.
Driftwood keeps their brand identity steady by following a clear brand guide: the same tone of voice across social posts, the same sandy-and-ocean color palette in their shop and online, the same slightly witty copy on their menu boards. Whether you’re ordering a latte in person or scrolling their Instagram feed, you know exactly what to expect.
Make it future-proof
The best brand identities are both sturdy and flexible. You want your identity to be recognizable and reliable, but not so rigid that it can’t evolve. Successful brands adapt strategically over time while maintaining their core recognition.
That means regularly reevaluating your identity against market changes, competitor moves, and customer expectations. For Driftwood, this might look like introducing seasonal drinks with playful branding that still fits within their overall coastal vibe, or adapting their digital presence to meet new customer habits without losing their personality.
The goal is balance. A brand identity that’s strong enough to anchor you, but flexible enough to keep you relevant.
Brand identity examples from Quill
Oshkosh Public Library
Quill Creative Studio partnered with the Oshkosh Public Library to refresh its brand identity, aiming to create a vibrant, welcoming experience that embodies the library's evolving role in the community. The project encompassed a new logo, strategic messaging, and a refreshed visual system to ensure consistency across all touchpoints. Guided by the slogan "Spark Your Story," this identity refresh aimed to inspire community pride, connection, and a sense of ownership among patrons.
Great Northern CORPORATION
Great Northern Corporation is a prominent developer and manufacturer specializing in innovative solutions for packaging, in-store displays, shipping, merchandising, and product distribution across industrial, commercial, and retail markets. After working with Quill to strengthen their visual identity, they aimed to further reinforce their commitment to social responsibility and sustainability across their portfolio of brands with an update to center their messaging and vision while still seamlessly aligning with the established corporate brand.
Lacuna Pet Products
Lacuna Pet Products is a small, family-owned company offering thoughtfully sourced, nutritionally balanced food, treats, and meal toppers for pets. With a heartfelt mission to fill the gaps in pet wellness, Lacuna partnered with Quill Creative Studio to develop a cohesive brand identity and packaging system that reflects their values of quality, compassion, and transparency.
Quill Creative Studio developed a brand identity and packaging system rooted in warmth, clarity, and care. The name “Lacuna” communicates the idea of filling a nutritional gap, just as pets fill an emotional one in our lives. We leaned into this meaning to shape both the tone and the look of the brand.
Strong brand identities don’t happen by accident
Building a brand identity is a long game. It’s not a weekend project or a quick logo update. It’s about planting the seed of who you are and letting it grow deep roots. Done right, a strong identity shapes how your audience perceives you and gives your team a sense of shared purpose. It turns your brand into more than a business. It becomes an experience, a culture, and a story people want to be part of.
That’s why working with a branding agency like Quill makes all the difference. Our team doesn’t just make things look good—we dig deep into your business, your goals, and your audience to build an identity that’s authentic. With expert guidance, you can avoid the common pitfalls of DIY branding and instead launch or refresh a brand that actually works for the long haul.
Ready to build a brand identity that lasts?
Let the expert brand designers at Quill help you stand out. Let’s chat.
