Understanding brand experience design

What is brand experience design?

Brand experience design is the process of designing a customer’s entire journey of encounters with a brand, from the first interaction to the end of the relationship. Brand experience is ultimately how a customer feels about your brand before, during, and after their interactions with you. This impression can have lasting effects on whether or not they shop with you again and if they would recommend your brand to others 1).

The key principles of brand experience design are:

• Consistency: Consistency in brand experience design ensures that every interaction with the brand is aligned with the brand’s values, personality, and promise. This means that the brand experience should be the same across all channels and touchpoints, whether it’s online or offline. Companies that get brand consistency right see an average revenue increase of 33% 2).
• Relevance: Brand experience design should be relevant to the target audience and meet their needs and expectations. This means that the brand experience should be tailored to the audience’s preferences, behavior, and context 3).
• Emotion: Brand experience design should evoke positive emotions and create a memorable experience for the audience. This means that the brand experience should be designed to engage the audience emotionally and leave a lasting impression 4).
• Coherence: Brand experience design should have a coherent narrative that tells a story about the brand and its values. This means that the brand experience should be designed to convey a clear and consistent message that resonates with the audience.
• Innovation: Brand experience design should be innovative and push the boundaries of what’s possible. This means that the brand experience should be designed to surprise and delight the audience, and create a sense of anticipation for what's next.

Brand experience design is closely related to retail design and digital product design. Retail design focuses on creating an engaging and memorable physical environment that aligns with the brand’s values and messaging. Digital product design focuses on creating a seamless and intuitive digital experience that is easy to use and aligns with the brand’s values and messaging.

The value of brand experience design

Brand experience design offers significant benefits to brand owners, including increased customer loyalty and revenue growth. By creating a cohesive and meaningful experience that aligns with the brand’s values and resonates with customers on an emotional level, brand owners can build a strong and loyal customer base.

A positive brand experience often converts into a positive customer experience. With 86% of customers willing to pay more for a customer experience, getting a consistent brand experience is imperative 5).

Design case: Muji
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Muji is a Japanese retail company that offers a wide range of products, including furniture, household goods, and clothing. The brand’s messaging is focused on simplicity, quality, and sustainability, and this is reflected in its product design, packaging, and store layout.

Muji’s retail stores are designed to be minimalist and functional, with a focus on showcasing the quality and functionality of its products. The brand’s digital experience is equally engaging, with a clean and intuitive website that allows customers to browse and purchase products online.

By creating a consistent, meaningful and engaging brand experience, Muji has built a loyal customer base that is passionate about the brand and its values.

Steps to achieving great results in brand experience design

To achieve great results in brand experience design, brand owners should take the following steps:

1. Conduct research: Conduct research to understand the target audience, their needs, and their expectations. This will help ensure that the brand experience is relevant and resonates with the target audience.
2. Define brand profile: Define the brand’s values, proposition and purpose: why you exist, what you bring to the market, and how you do what you do, in a unique and compelling way. This will help ensure that the brand experience is coherent and aligned with the brand’s values and messaging.
3. Create a cohesive brand identity: Create a cohesive brand identity that is consistent across all touchpoints, from the physical environment to the digital experience. Activate your brand values, proposition and purpose with the core creative building blocks every successful brand needs: from logo and colour palette through to bespoke typography, graphic language, and imagery.
4. Apply brand experience design to all aspects of the customer journey: from the initial encounter with the brand to the end of the relationship. This will help ensure that the brand experience is holistic and meaningful.

Concluding

Brand experience design is a critical component of building a successful brand. By crafting a consistent and meaningful experience that aligns with the brand’s values and proposition, and resonates with customers on an emotional level, brand owners can build a strong and loyal customer base. To achieve great results in brand experience design, brand owners should conduct research, define the brand profile, create a cohesive brand identity, and apply brand experience design to all aspects of the customer journey.

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Sources:

1. What is brand experience, and why does it matter?
   ‍https://www.acquia.com/blog/brand-experience

2. Brand consistency: the average revenue increase is 33%
   https://funnelamplified.com/blog/brand-consistency-revenue-increase/

3. What is BX? Your ultimate guide to brand experience
   https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/brand/brand-experience/

4. Everything you need to know about brand experience
   https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/brand-experience

5. How to create a consistent brand experience
   https://www.digizuite.com/blog/consistent-brand-experience

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