Laura Busche, The Brand Strategist That Combines Insights Of  Marketing, Design Management And Psychology, Shares 5 Branding Trends For This Year

Laura Busche, The Brand Strategist That Combines Insights Of  Marketing, Design Management And Psychology, Shares 5 Branding Trends For This Year

Branding has always been a vital part of business, but it may be more important now than ever before. With social media, consumers get exposed to new brands every day. This can be great for consumers, but it makes it harder for businesses.

The truth is that there’s a huge amount of competition today, so businesses need to go the extra mile of ensuring they stand out in a crowd. To do this, they need to invest in creating a strong brand that will get and keep people’s attention. 

Branding is the nuanced art of actively shaping any brand. With creativity, skill and strategy, a brand can establish an identity that sets itself apart from the competition and sparks a connection with its audience. Branding is what gives a brand a reputation, a personality and, ultimately, a future!

So, if you’re still asking why branding is important, we’d challenge you with a counter-argument: Is there any time when branding isn’t important? Whether you like it or not, branding is everything and Laura Busche is here to explain why!

Laura is a successful Colombian-German brand strategist who has been helping individuals and companies to build memorable symbols, stories, and brand strategies for over a decade.

She has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, a master’s degree in Design Management and a Phd in Consumer Psychology, so her approach to brand design is holistic. What’s more, Laura is the author of two brand strategy books: Lean Branding and Powering Content. She has contributed to publications like Smashing Magazine and worked with global creative brands like Creative Market, Dribbble, Webflow, Domestika, Magmic and many more!

In 2008, Laura co-founded the digital marketing agency Ozone Group and since then she has dedicated to building brands for companies of all sizes and from all parts of the world.

“In my day-to-day life, I design logos, typographic schemes, style guides, brand stories and content playbooks to tell those stories. At my agency, I also collaborate with web developers and designers to build WordPress sites that represent the digital headquarters for these brands. In each of these projects, I combine principles of marketing, design and psychology in order to build memorable brands!”, Laura explains.

Laura considers that we’re all living in the age of independent brands. The innovative brands, with revolutionary ideas and that really care about the user experience are the ones that have the ability to succeed in today’s society! That’s why Laura believes that part of her mission in life is to provide all these brands with great strategies and to help them define their visual identity.

In fact, she manages to stand out from the crowd because, as she says, she’s an unusual mix. Laura combines efficiency and aesthetics, and she provides her clients with the best brand creation tools. Additionally, she is a really pragmatic person and has an extensive academic background! Her clients know all of this and value her considerable knowledge and experience in the field, which has led her to be a highly recognized national and international personality.

“As a creative entrepreneur, it is absolutely essential that you start shaping your thoughts and not just accept what comes to your mind. Analyze each thought and ask yourself how much truth and how much distortion is in it. Then, create healthy thoughts that allow you to move forward and that you can lean on. These are the ones who will give you the strength to project yourself in the market and to attract your people”, Laura adds.

In actual fact, branding is absolutely critical to a business because of the overall impact it makes on every company. It can change how people perceive any brand, it can drive new business, and increase brand value – but it can also do the opposite if done wrongly or not at all.

Laura also shares 5 branding trends every entrepreneur needs to be aware of in 2023:

1. Ai-powered marketing: As increasingly potent AI tools take over our daily lives, marketers face the challenge of leveraging them to accelerate existing business processes. How can we complement and improve our workflow with apps that can handle the repetitive tasks that drain our time? Emphasis on complement. 

2. Millennial nostalgia aesthetics. Consumers born between the early 1980s and 2000s, dubbed Y Generation or Millennials, are going through their most productive phase in the workforce and demonstrate strong acquisition power. This makes them a cohort of interest for brands in every industry. So much that we’re seeing a strong influence of nostalgic Millennial aesthetics and themes in product development and brand design across verticals. 

3. Vertical video dominating. Mobile-first, 9:16 video has become the new norm for brand content. Consumers have shifted towards mobile browsing for their social interaction, navigation, shopping, and information-seeking needs. Brands now face the challenge of meeting them where they’re at with full-screen, engaging content that stops their scroll. 

4. Reviving experiential marketing post-pandemic. After 3 years of pandemic and post-pandemic behavioral impact,  in situ brand experiences are finally making a strong recovery. Expect a resurgence of flagship store, dining, and entertainment innovation in 2023.

5. Influencers as a core, mature channel. We’re seeing nano, micro, and macro influencer strategies mature into a core marketing area. Expect higher brand preference for micro or nano influencers who cater to specialized audiences (niches) and contribute to diversity and representation. We’ll also see more influencer contracts evolving into ambassadorships or ongoing content creation agreements versus one-offs. 

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: branding is everything. So Laura’s advice is to be good to your brand and take the time to carefully curate your brand identity!

Do you feel ready to invest in your brand now that you have learned the benefits of branding for all types of businesses? Need help with branding strategies? Check out Laura’s website here! To stay updated with her latest projects, follow Laura on Instagram here –  and drop by to say hi!