The role and importance of communication in business can’t be overlooked. Be it a team meeting, sales pitch, investor relations, or employee training, effective communication is indispensable to make an impact. In this context, presentations are a great tool to take your interactions to a new level and open doors to new avenues.
As presentations speak volumes about your company’s culture, values, beliefs, and commitment, they should be branded appropriately.
Most presenters neglect the importance of branding in presentations, assuming that brand identity is confined to website design, advertisem*nts, and products. If you are one of them, beware! You are making a big mistake and losing lucrative opportunities to connect with the audience at a deeper level.
By adorning each slide with your brand’s color and elements, you not only breathe life into your presentation but also increase brand awareness and recognition among the audience.
Let’s explore why it’s important to reflect brand identity in your presentations and how you can do it.
Importance of Brand Identity in Presentations
- Enhances the Professional Appearance
A well-designed and branded presentation crafted in alignment with your brand’s image showcases your passion and commitment to the brand. It provides a clue to the audience about your detail-orientedness.
Further, a cohesive and consistent visualization of your brand elements in slides enhances the professional look of your presentations and conveys and reinforces your brand message impressively.
- Helps Maintain Brand Consistency
Presentations are an excellent marketing tool for positioning your brand in the minds of existing or potential customers. Like your business cards, brochures, websites, flyers, and other marketing materials, presentations strengthen your brand communication and tell a unique brand story.
To maintain brand consistency and make your brand timeless, it’s crucial to follow your corporate brand guidelines in presentations, too. Each slide must be branded with the right font and color and have a visual balance.
- Reflects Your Company’s Values
Do you know the difference between a generic and a branded presentation? Well, it lies in the reflection of your company’s values.
Adding the company’s branding elements, such as imagery, logo, and color palette, to generic slides transforms your presentation’s appeal and style. This fosters an emotional bond with the audience and helps them better associate with your offerings.
For example, if you want to portray your company as futuristic and creative, you can use animated illustrations and bright colors in your slides. Conversely, if you want to depict the sober side of your organization, opt for a minimalist and clean style with muted and pastel colors.
- Builds Trust and Credibility
Incorporating your brand elements in each slide establishes credibility and trust for your products and services among customers. It helps communicate your brand promise and commitment to quality, leaving a positive impact and a profound first impression on the audience’s minds.
For example, in 2008, Airbnb’s thoughtfully created pitch deck helped the company raise $600K from angel investors and venture capitalists. Through this deck, Airbnb showcased its unique brand identity and story which made investors believe in its growth potential.
Here is the Airbnb’s slide deck-
https://www.slideshare.net/PitchDeckCoach/airbnb-first-pitch-deck-editable
- Sets You Apart from the Competition
What comes to your mind when we give you these clues—golden arches resembling an “M” and a yellow and red logo? McDonald’s, right? That’s the power of effective branding! It distinguishes you from others and deeply embeds your brand in customers’ unconscious memory, creating strong brand associations.
Presentations complimented with the corporate branding elements communicate your company’s unique value propositions and strategic focus, instantly captivating the audience’s attention. Everything from the color to the content you choose for your slides influences your brand image, so you must be mindful of even the tiniest details.
Ways to Boost Branding in Presentations
- Use Graphics Resembling Your Brand Image
Images and graphics aligned with your brand’s core aesthetics and message get imprinted in the audience’s mind, making your presentations unforgettable.
To reflect authenticity in your slides, you can either include 100% personalized illustrations or original photos of your brand. Make sure you incorporate high-definition and non-pixelated images that can be projected on screens of all dimensions. Also, the slides should balance content and visuals for a more polished appearance.
- Choose Typography that Reflects Your Brand Identity
Typography is often neglected, but it is one of the most pivotal elements of your brand identity. Most presenters assume that stylish fonts will make their presentations more creative and innovative. However, this is an absolutely false notion! Overly stylish fonts may cause your audience to strain their eyes and ruin your brand reputation.
So, choose fonts and typefaces that represent your brand well and are easily readable. Use font variations to create a visual hierarchy in your slides. And, don’t hesitate to experiment with font pairing until you get the perfect font match to portray your brand.
- Apply Brand Hues to Each Slide
The colors you choose for your presentations embody your brand personality and greatly influence the sensibilities, emotions, perceptions, and psychology of the audience. That’s why every aspect of your slide, be it the background, text, or images, must have the essence of your brand’s color.
For example, in one of its presentations, “22 Rules for Phenomenal Storytelling,” Pixar, an America-based animation studio, used bright color palettes to showcase its distinguished brand identity and instantly connect with the audience.
Presentation Link: https://www.slideshare.net/powerfulpoint/pixar-22rulestophenomenalstorytellingpowerfulpointslideshare
- Incorporate Corporate Brand Elements
Elements like the logo, visual patterns, slogan, etc., fortify the brand identity and strengthen the brand voice. By wisely incorporating these brand elements into your slides, you can create unique brand associations and render a professional look to your corporate presentations.
McKinsey’s presentations are the perfect examples of the inclusion of standardized layout, font, and color in each slide. Have a look at one of their slide decks –
- Your Content Must Echo Your Brand Voice
The content of your presentation says a lot about your brand’s ethos and personality. Hence, whether you present statistical data, deep research, or crucial information, your content must manifest the brand’s value and tone, similar to other marketing stuff.
Avoid overloading slides with too much text, as it can backfire and diminish the essence of your brand. Include relevant content that best conveys the core brand message without confusing the audience.
- Weave Brand Narrative in a Story
Humans have a natural inclination toward stories. You can leverage the power of stories in your presentations to create brand affinity among the audience. Visualize your brand’s journey through a compelling narrative backed by impeccable visuals.
For example, in its sales deck, Zuora weaves a fantastic story about how everyone’s daily life has changed with the evolution of the subscription model. The sophisticated colors and logo of Zuora on each slide represent the company’s brand identity.
Presentation Link:
https://www.slideshare.net/ryangum/zuora-sales-deck
- Maintain Consistency
A uniform layout and design support your brand message, differentiating it from the rest. In addition, they show your attention to detail and efforts in creating the presentation.
You can make your slide deck look consistent by using presentation templates that can be easily aligned with your brand’s tone.
Wrap Up
Your corporate presentations represent your brand’s personality, voice, and essence. They serve as a medium for your brand to steal the spotlight and make a distinguished space in the memory of clients, customers, business partners, investors, employees, and other stakeholders. They visualize your brand story, giving the audience an idea of who you are and what exactly you do. So, ensure you fully leverage each slide by infusing your brand identity into it.
