2020 Branding Trends

Your brand is one of the most critical parts of your marketing efforts. When you are looking to reach out and engage with your audience you need to have strong brand identity design that is instantly recognisable. Brand is your logo, but it’s also how you engage with your audience and how you present your business. Some of the 2020 branding trends we are starting to see in 2020 and beyond include:

• Personalisation and visual storytelling
• Greater focus on sustainability in branding and packaging
• The simplification of logos
• Increased online communities
• Metallic logos and refined line art

Do I Need to Rebrand my Business?

Before we get into it – it’s important to consider whether you need to rebrand. After all, rebranding does cost money – but it may be a worthwhile investment if your rebrand allows you to meet another market segment, or bring your business into a new era of growth.

As with anything else, brands can become outdated or age, and when that happens it is important to consider rebranding to bring your business’ image into the current age. Google, Starbucks, Mastercard, Instagram, and Airbnb are all companies who have taken the step of rebranding:

While some rebranding is obvious, other rebrands are more subtle – but one thing a good rebrand embodies is a sense of regeneration while paying homage to the existing brand. So why not take a look at your brand after you have read up on the branding trends 2020 has to offer and then consider whether you could benefit from a refresh.

2020 Branding Trends We are Seeing Today

Personalisation and visual storytelling

With the advent of Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and a range of other video sharing platforms it’s possible for your brand to reach your audience through the power of video media. With such a powerful medium available to you, you can reach out to your audience in a really engaging and personal way. When creating video content to brand your business you need to think about what your brand stands for and think about how you can communicate those care values through media. We expect to see a lot more visual storytelling in branding trends 2020 and beyond.

• If your brand is fun and irreverent use this in your videos creatively. Similarly, if your brand is serious and mature you want your videos to reflect this. Don’t try and break away from your brand and ‘be funny’ just for the sake of it; use your video marketing efforts to cement your brand’s identity.
• Be bold and consider using longer-form video content to connect with your audience. While much of the video content you see online is short, micro-content, you can afford to spend longer telling your story so long as the message is worthwhile.

Greater focus on sustainability in branding and packaging

Sustainability and environmentalism are both core focuses for the world, and it makes sense that brands are going to be using more eco-friendly packaging in their products – in fact, if you’re not considering eco-friendly alternatives for your products you might be missing out on a share of the market that is only set to grow. Brands are also focusing on using eco-friendly styling in their logos and this is one of many growing 2020 branding trends that is capturing new target markets.

• There is a growing range of products made with alternative fibres; it’s now possible to source packaging that has been made using all-natural and biodegradable materials.
• If it’s possible to reduce the range of packaging that you use in shipping or storing your materials, think about doing it – and then don’t forget to share your changes with your audience on social media!

The simplification of logos

Many logos from the 90s and 00s are swirly, patterned, complicated, and can appear messy. As a result, many businesses and brands are looking at simplifying their logos – that is to say, cutting back to a simple font and even simpler styling. If your logo is busy or looks dated this can be a great option to bring your brand into current times.

• The simplification of your logo involves stripping back your existing logo and moving towards a sans-serif style font and appearance.
• When you simplify your brand, you are moving towards a simple and elegant style – much like fashion brands YvesSaintLaurent, Balenciaga, and Burberry.

Increased online communities

The online community is a place where users can come together and share their experiences with plenty of engagement and contributions from business owners and other end-product users. For example, the Sweat app by Kayla Itsines has an online fitness community where users engage, ask, and answer questions. This kind of engagement cements the usefulness of the brand and business as users feel as if they are personally contributing to the way in which their community develops.

• Build an online community with questions and answers, host Q&A with the business owners, and encourage engagement in your community.
• Get engaged with the online community by having a regular time when you are personally answering questions every week/month.

Metallics

We love the luxe minimalism that is appearing everywhere lately, and this is one of our favourite branding trends of 2020. Think about embossing and using metallic highlights to add a touch of glamour and glitz (without transporting your customers back to the days of Liberace) and embrace the luxuriousness of it all.

• Don’t go overboard with metallics – focus on accents and highlights for maximum impact.
• Evoke a sense of luxury without appearing tacky using metallics on special products as opposed to the entire range.

We hope you enjoyed our take on what to expect for 2020 branding trends in the coming year. If you think you’re in the market for a rebrand (or are looking for a new brand for your business) get in touch with our branding agency Brisbane team for a chat about how we can help you.