When you think of brand touch points, it’s often the website, social media and advertisements that come to mind. When done well, these elements capture the spirit and mission of the company, reflecting the tone, look and feel that the company wants its customers to experience.
But often, we see companies invest heavily in their brands and marketing and completely neglect to incorporate brand into arguably their most important touchpoint: their product’s user experience.
It’s like having beautiful paint, furniture and landscaping outside your house, but then leaving everything inside bare and unfinished. If your brand isn’t integrated within your product, you create a disjointed experience for your customers. What’s worse, you could also create a lack of trust and usability.
When your product seamlessly incorporates your brand, it doesn’t just look good – it becomes an extension of your brand. It delights, informs, and guides users naturally.
Like our friends at MathTrack.
We partnered to rebrand and relaunch from what started as XR Technologies. Their new brand is exciting, fresh and tells a clear story. The integration within the product engages users to achieve their ultimate goal of getting more licensed math teachers in the classroom.
But when a brand isn’t integrated within a product, it shows.
You might see stretched or elongated logos, mismatched colors between marketing materials and the product, and inconsistent typography. The words and messaging inside the product might be dry and technical, differing from the tone used on the website or social media. It often feels like the brand and product teams are working for two different companies. It’s like the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is designing.
However, when brand and product design work together, you might not even notice because you’re guided through a cohesive, well-planned experience.
Here’s how you can tell it’s done right:
- Visual brand elements are consistent across the website and the product.
- The tone of voice is uniform across all touchpoints: website, social media, product messaging, customer support, etc.
- Messaging elements appear consistently on both the website and the product.
- Color palettes and typography are used appropriately throughout the product.
Consumer brands often excel at this. Consider the way Starbucks and Chipotle maintain the same look, feel, tone, and messaging across their website, storefront, and online ordering. Top B2B SaaS products also maintain this consistency. Zendesk, for instance, maintains a stellar brand in their marketing while seamlessly continuing it through account creation, onboarding, customer support and everyday product use.
When we work with clients to integrate brand into their products, we start by identifying the key areas within the product where brand can make the most impact:
Don’t overlook the operational impact on how your internal teams collaborate when integrating your brand into your product. This shouldn’t be a one-time effort. Rather, your product design and brand design teams should establish an ongoing collaboration to identify key touch points and create moments of delight that deepen brand engagement.
Use this list to gauge how well your brand is integrated within your product:
- Does your logo appear in your product in a prominent and legible way?
- Do your website imagery and visual elements carry through to the product?
- Are your primary brand colors reinforced and accessible in the product?
- Has the product design team adapted the brand palette to create a UX palette?
- Is the in-product messaging tone consistent with your website’s tone?
- Is it clear where the product fits within the larger brand?
A well-designed product doesn’t stop at features and functionality.
It embodies your brand’s promise and messaging, fostering trust and brand loyalty. To differentiate effectively, your product and brand must work together to create the best user and brand experience possible.
We’re here to help when you’re ready to start the process. Learn how Innovatemap can help you integrate brand and product.
