What to Know About Environmental Brand Assets

So the hard work is done: your business has an established brand or has recently rebranded. You know your colours and fonts off by heart, and your essence and tone of voice are outlined in a carefully developed brand guide – a marketing resource that visualizes and articulates the culture of your organization. And now you’re asking, “What’s next?”

A brand strategy looks at the different brand assets that are essential to developing strong brand recall and improving customer satisfaction – and these assets have been shown to increase employee productivity. One of the most important of these, which every business should think about, is environmental branding. 

What is Environmental Branding?

Environmental branding is the act of physically implementing brand elements into your workspaces, stores, or shops. Think of this asset as interior design mixed with the power of marketing, creating a “super-asset” – one that can be very powerful if it resonates with people on a deeply emotional and fundamental level. However, in order for it to resonate with people, your brand must be believable at all touchpoints, including your place of business; using elements from your mission statement, colours from your brand palette, and shapes from your logo are all great places to start.

If you want to take your environmental branding to the next level, adding in elements of your sustainable marketing initiatives will help drive the most important message of all: your purpose. For example, if your purpose is to be an eco-friendly business, purchase repurposed furniture from Etsy or secondhand stores. Think about the ways you can use your physical space to drive your business’s purpose and explore various opportunities to infuse environmental branding into your business model.

Creating a Full Brand Experience for Clients and Customers

Think of environmental branding as interior design marketing, where space is used to tell your brand’s story and make a genuine emotional connection. This means looking at everything – from walls and windows to floors and furniture. Think of your space and the tone you want to set, too: for a tech company, this is likely a cool and sleek experience with areas of fun trickled through the office; for a brewery, you might aim for a cozy and welcoming “home” feel.

Ideas to Brand Your Office Space

• Use a neon sign that writes out the main company value.
• Choose furniture that has a similar shape to your logo and uses your brand colours.
• Create a space that emanates a feeling. Want your employees to have fun at work? Add a pinball machine. Eager to encourage outdoor lunches? Add a picnic table to your outdoor space. Environmental marketing is your business’s vibe, manifested into reality and lived out fully.

Ideas to Brand Your Shop Space

• To make your customers feel like family, take pictures of your employees and hang them on the well in eclectic frames.
• To emphasize your sustainable marketing and your belief in creating inclusive spaces for all people, integrate that messaging and visual language into your bathroom signage.
• Hoping for a warm space that invites customers through the door? Think sofas, throw pillows, curtains in your brand’s colors, and warm and welcoming low lighting.

Environmental Branding at the Office and Home

As you change your office space to be more dynamic and provide a place for your team to get a breather from the work-from-home life, remember that there are other ways to cleverly implement environmental branding. Start thinking of digital opportunities, like offering your team branded Zoom or Microsoft Teams backgrounds for online meetings. Think of ways to create physical opportunities in your space that lead customers and team members to post pictures on their own personal social media. It could be as simple as a feature wall at the front entrance, with a sign highlighting a branded hashtag and your organizational handles.

Environmental branding is an essential brand asset for every business, and when seamlessly integrated into your space, it tells a more complete story of who you are and what you believe in. There are even organizations like WJ’s client and friend, Identity Ink, that can help you bring your vision purpose to life.

For help with your brand visuals and how to make the most of your space, reach out today and get a whole team of experts that can move your brand forward!