The importance of Interior Branding

What is Interior Branding

Interior branding is the most overlooked aspect of forming a clear and consistent company brand. Bernd Schmitt, the author of Experiential marketing, notes that brands are encoded in physical environments whether you want it or not. Every location where people interact with your brand, be it an office or a shop, makes a certain impact on them. If these spaces are designed with little or no consideration of the brand values, you are depriving yourself of the opportunity to shape the experience that people go through.

• Interior Branding is more than just a logo or a sign, all elements must work together to form an on-brand, engaging and sensory experience.
• It should be considered how your brand could be communicated through the layout, finishing materials, colour and lighting in your interiors so that you can achieve that final link in the identity chain.
• These design choices will ultimately impact the impression you make on clients, customers and staff, as well as send a message about who you are as a company.

Why branding is important in Interior Design

People need to encounter the brand in every possible way in order to build up an association in their head. It is not about putting a logo on every wall and matching the furniture with brand colours. Rather, it’s about creating a space that speaks for itself. The interior should harmonize with your brand; so that people could walk in blindfolded and still be sure where they are.

A key question to consider is “Does the look and feel of the interior evoke that of the brand?” – it must support and complement the style.

• Interior branding should be portrayed to the client as a worthwhile investment, adding value to your brand and presenting you with the chance to stand out from the crowd and demonstrate what makes you unique.
• Consistency is the crucial element that binds your identity together. When all of your other marketing materials are coherent, the last thing you want is for your interior to contradict the message you wish to portray.

Visual Branding in Hospitality Interiors

• Similarly to retail, hotels and restaurants with multiple locations can also benefit hugely from achieving brand consistency across all venues. There is a real opportunity to create a unique customer experience with hospitality interiors and the design can have an overwhelming impact on whether visitors return or choose to visit one of the other branches.
• Branding can also be used to differentiate your business from the competition.
• For restaurants in particular, it’s likely that the branding and colour scheme of the sign/logo has been specifically designed to reflect the kind of cuisine on offer. This should be no different when designing the interiors.

What are some steps you can take to ensure the interior design of your space reflects your brand?

A starting point for branding the interior of your business space is to brainstorm descriptive words for your brand. This will ensure the design can also be described with those words. Start by thinking “Who are we?” and “What makes our business unique?” These questions should help spark some great descriptive words. It is also a great idea to establish a look and feel of the space in and align your branding with this. This will create a concise and cohesive visual that communicates your brand to the consultants and is carried through the space to your clients/target audience.

Another step you can take to ensure the success of your branded space is to connect all elements and contributors to the business and design as early as possible. This will allow them to be on the same page early on and follow the same design direction with cohesive goals.

Read the full article