7 HOT Digital Branding Trends for 2020 You Should Know Right Now!

Digital Marketing Posted On: Jan 8, 2020

branding trends for 2020

Planning a give an overhaul to your brand? Without new branding ideas or expert guidance of a top branding agency, you’ll be far off in making your branding efforts amazing, let alone successful.

Think about it.

Branding today isn’t what it used to be back in the day. Thanks to rapid digitization and changes in the way consumers interact with a brand, digital branding has transformed completely!

So sticking to old-school branding tactics of yesteryear might not be a good idea after all.

Which is why we’ve curated some really hot branding trends for you take cues from.

Adopting and using them in your branding strategy will definitely help you revamp your brand to perfection!

Here they are:

The Era of ‘Phigital’ Marketing

If you’ve just scratched your head wondering what “Phigital Marketing” means, let us explain.

Phigital marketing is nothing but a hybrid between “physical” and “digital” marketing. It combines both aspects of physical and digital strategies to give a unique and immersive brand experience to the user.

Thanks to the growing potential of virtual and augmented reality in marketing, brands have stepped in to give an unforgettable experience to their customers using Phigital marketing, making it a popular creative branding strategy.

Phigital-Marketing



Source

An early example of Phigital marketing could be taken from a Brazilian store called C&A.

The store used real-time Facebook data of their followers and used it in one of their hangers!

That’s right.

For every product, they displayed a particular amount of Facebook Likes left by fans right on their hangers. This allowed customers to figure out the popularity of each item and helped them make a purchase.

So if you’re planning an online or offline branding campaign, don’t forget to leverage Phigital marketing. It’ll help you stand out from the competition and surge your brand awareness to the next level.

Inclusive Marketing Will Take CenterStage

Inclusive Marketing is a type of marketing that promotes the diversity of the audience your brand serves by including real people in your campaigns.

These campaigns are mostly focused on stories, stereotypes or real-world scenarios and are more focused on delivering a meaningful message to the audience.

The “Picture-Perfect Life” commercial by Google is a fantastic example of Inclusive marketing. It shows real photos taken by people of different backgrounds using their Pixel 2 smartphone.

https://youtu.be/k4z7D1ap9WI



Google’s intent behind the campaign was to show that even though people appear happy in their photos or videos, they might still be struggling with mental disorders from the inside and require support.

Through the campaign, Google perfectly connected with their audience and assured them that it identifies their struggles and also provides resources in times of help.

The trend of inclusive marketing is on the rise partly due to studies showing consumers’ preference over brands that are more inclusive and diverse.

This means the more inclusive elements you have in your campaigns, the more effective your branding campaigns will become.

Start adding more inclusive elements in your campaigns such as brand storytelling. Doing so will immensely help you get noticed by your audience than your competitors.

Responsive Logo Design Is a Must

Back in the day, it was okay for brands to use a single logo in their branding. Not anymore. Today, you’ll have to create a logo that DYNAMICALLY adapts to your environment.

The concept of dynamic logo design isn’t new. However, thanks to the ever-changing digital world and the rise of responsive websites and interactive apps, it has become mandatory for brands to make their logos responsive for better consistency.

A responsive logo is different than an icon and changes in size, complexity or color depending on the context.

It exists in four sizes namely: Maxi, Mid Max, Regular, and Small where each size can be used for different purposes such as need, location, and domain.

Here’s an example of responsive logos by popular brands:

Responsive-Logo-Design



The bottom line? Like responsive web design, make sure you create different variants of your logo to make it responsive.

This will help your brand maintain more consistency irrespective of which social media or online platform it’s present on.

Neon Colors and Gradients Are the Future

Colors have always been at the heart of branding and this year it’s all about futuristic neon color tones and gradients.

Think of a combination of saturated blues, deep vibrant purples, and glowing pinks, and you have a futuristic color palette that’ll easily attract anyone’s eye.

This color tone has largely been adopted by popular brands, famously by Mozilla and Tinder where the fresh, multidimensional, and beaming color saturation really strikes you.

Neon-Colors-and-Gradients



So if you want to bring out a glowy and sensational futuristic vibe, implementing this color tone will radically transform your branding to the next level.

Don’t forget to play around and try out different gradients to infuse your brand with bright colors.

Minimalism is the Next BIG Thing

Remember Steve Job’s iconic quote: “Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication”? Well, it seems that’s making its way to branding this year around.

No kidding! Minimalism is set to establish itself as a top branding trend.

Be it top sports brands like Nike, tech companies like Microsoft, or clothing brands like Burberry, every brand is jumping the “Less is more” bandwagon, which is becoming more noticeable in their typography and style.

Wondering why all the logos have the same font? Yup, we don’t blame you.

Minimalism-is-the-Next-BIG-Thing



Source

The shift to this trend largely has to do with versatility and better customer recall.

By toning down the logo to simple fonts, it’s easier for brands to use these logos on different backgrounds. On top of that, simple logos are easier to remember by customers, thus giving brands instant recognizability.

So, whether you’re revamping your website or creating a new one from scratch make sure you keep things simple.

The Trend of Branded Hashtags WillRise

If you thought hashtags are only useful for increasing the reach of your posts on social media then that’s not the end of the story.

Hashtags, most specifically branded hashtags, have shown to increase customer engagement by 50% apart from being a crucial ingredient for brand awareness.

What’s more, today more than half of all hashtags on social media are branded and the number is expected to rise even more.

This sufficiently explains the impact of branded hashtags and why you should use them in your marketing campaigns.

When running a branding campaign on social media, try to incorporate a branded hashtag around your campaign. It could be anything from your brand’s tagline, to even your own brand name.

If you’re running a contest or a poll, you can even ask your customers to use your branded hashtag and extend the reach of your brand even further.

Here’s how Snowe, a brand selling home essentials uses the branded hashtag “#StartWithSnowe” to encourage their customers to share their home style to get featured on their feed.

Trend-of-Branded-Hashtags



Source

Don’t Ignore Online Communities

Ever heard of online branding communities?

These are dedicated platforms built by brands that let customers interact with one another, participate in discussions, and share tips and advice.

According to recent studies, it was found that online communities build more trust between customers and the brand and increase retention rate.

That’s basically one of the reasons they are going to be more popular this year when it comes to branding.

With a strong community presence and engagement, you can establish yourself as a reputed brand and increase your chances of turning your present customers into devout advocates.

Communities can also save you from the hassle of researching your customers’ preferences, needs, and likes and help you understand what they truly want from you.

To take advantage of this trend, make sure invest in building a community for your followers and customers and start engaging with them on a daily basis.

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it! Top branding trends for 2020 that will immensely help you leverage your branding strategy and get maximum exposure in your domain.

Make sure you implement each of them across different platforms and mediums for effective results.

And if you’re not sure how we’ll be there for help.

We are a digital marketing agency that offers comprehensive branding solutions across multiple platforms and can help you market your brand for growth and sales.

Get in touch with us, and we’ll help you with your requirements.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *