The Branding Trends Taking Businesses to the Top

Change is essential in the business landscape, as it takes innovation to continue evolving in a competitive landscape. Considering the sheer number of businesses operating across all industry sectors nowadays, it can be challenging to come up with a strategy. After all, it can seem like there’s nothing unique out there anymore, and everything you want to do has already been done by somebody else.

Instead of focusing on coming up with something new, it could be more helpful to focus your attention on the latest trends and customize them for your brand. This way, you attract customers with something that will draw their attention while remaining true to your business ethics.

Here are some of the trends you can explore.

Era love

While the interest in past eras is nothing new, there’s perhaps no time when this was clearer than during the 2020s. This decade seems set on revisiting the fashion, style, colors, and mood of several years, if not decades ago. Borrowing from this trend can help you come up with something truly extraordinary.

You can draw inspiration from packaging or product design that existed back in the Roaring Twenties or Swinging Sixties, or you might decide to go back even further and create a look reminiscent of the late 1800s, before the advent of large-scale technology. There are many options available, so settling on the one that fits your brand will take work and effort.

You can work with a branding and design agency to help you settle on something that will help deliver the message you want your customers to get. The risk with trends is that, since many other brands are doing them, you risk becoming a drop in a sea of sameness. Working with professionals lets you blend technicality with creative expertise so the outcome is better-equipped to handle the market challenges.

The nostalgia factor is very important for many consumers nowadays. Some of them weren’t even born during the mid-20th century, and yet the images still invoke a sense of cheerfulness and the yearning for simpler times. Although that image is more or less a construct, and the historical reality is entirely different, that doesn’t stop shoppers from wanting to instantly grab a product from the shelf if it comes with retro or vintage-inspired wrapping.

Minimalism

Minimalism has increasingly become a more and more relevant trend across different areas, from apparel to interior design. So, it is no surprise that it has found its way into product design as well. The appeal of minimalism is the ability to do more with less. In an age where overconsumption and clutter have started drawing heavy criticism, a clean, crisp design wins many people over. However, minimalism is no longer solely associated with neutrals and largely empty spaces. Instead, it has started becoming more vibrant, including more elements but delivering them in such a way that the minimal look remains unchanged.

Essentially, it’s using a maximalist color palette but with a minimal aesthetic. This way, you can stick to the essentials and deliver your product in a way that feels both straightforward and subtle without worrying that the overall look will be drab and uninspiring.

Logo plasticity

In an ever-changing business environment, with competition at every corner, it’s essential to make sure customers, both the loyal ones who have been with you for years as well as the prospective ones who are yet to become familiar with your brand, can see your brand everywhere. For example, branding for financial services has begun focusing on the digital environment at a growing pace. Fintech and neobanking are becoming increasingly familiar to users, meaning the company branding had to change as well.

Adapting your logo to the market demands can also go a long way. The best alternative, and one that is used by many world-renowned brands such as Nike, Chanel or Coca-Cola, is to have several versions of the same logo design. You will need to use each of them for different purposes, and while some situations might call for something a little more complex, others will require a much simpler design.

Having different variations ensures consistency and is an excellent way to guarantee brand visibility. Customers will quickly recognize your products and are more likely to purchase from you again and again.

Overstimulated branding

While some prefer the unassuming, subdued designs, others need to be sure they’re visible. Betting on eye-catching designs means that you let bright colors and distorted fonts do the talking. Creative patterning and various graphics can be used as well, with some of the overstimulated designs being so complex that they can even evoke sensorial perceptions other than sight, such as smells, tastes or tactile sensations.

This highly visible, attention-grabbing trend aims to avoid banner blindness, create higher engagement rates and boost sales. However, this attempt to captivate the senses isn’t a cynical, cash-grabbing initiative. It is also targeted at improving feelings of happiness and well-being among buyers through the playful, energetic uses of bold shades and hues. Many clients gravitate towards this type of overstimulated branding as a form of escapism from the doom and gloom of the news and world events.

Brand mascot

If you think that brand mascots are an outdated concept, think again. The 2020s are seeing a resurgence of this trend, with mascots being front and center for the brands. Since they are typically chosen to have cute designs and embody human characteristics at the same time, customers feel closer to the brand since it feels like there’s something tangible to connect to.

A mascot brings extra personality and charm, and since all shoppers are increasingly looking for authenticity, you might want to consider creating a mascot. Just be sure to make it relatable and funny but without overdoing it, and, of course, have it look sweet and friendly.

When it comes to branding, there are many things you should take into account. Learning from the trends is vital, but you should constantly personalize everything to make it stand out from the rest.