I conduct a lot of branding and user experience workshops. And my design team works on a lot of corporate identity kits; we redevelop logos, templates, print collateral, email templates, yada, yada.
While logo, font, and color are certainly important aspects of a brand, we believe that the user experience is the largest driver of the brand experience.
Why? Because an organization can have the most beautiful logo and color palette in the world, but if the user experience is crappy, the brand will be crappy.
And to us, the user experience is ALL the ways in which people can interact with the brand. What do you stand for and HOW do you make that known? What are your signature benefits and HOW do you deliver them? Why do people and companies join and HOW do they join? HOW do you answer the phone? HOW quickly and completely do you respond to emails? HOW easy is it to find information on the website and make a purchase? HOW does the brand respond to adversity?
Of course, strong brands must have a strong visual identity. That’s where beautiful websites, social media pages, videos, meeting microsites and publications come in. These brand representations must be backed up by strong and consistent member journeys.
If you have members and customers complaining about your store or membership join form, know that these experiences are hurting your brand. Resolve to fix them. Fast.