What Are Brand Assets and How to Create Them?

Which Assets define your brand? 

Brand assets are everything that makes your brand what it is. Everything from your colour scheme, logos, icons, fonts etc, these all come together to build and define your brand. They are assets because they help make your brand recognisable and successful.

These tools and images can also help build your brand’s overall awareness. But it can also be an experience. Apple for example has one of the best User Interfaces (UI), its clean and easy to use. This is a brand asset for Apple as it makes them stand out from competitors like Android. 

Might be of interest – Apple’s Soft-UI

Why Do Brands Need Assets? 

Brand assets are crucial to the success of any business as they make it unique. These assets take time to get right and it takes time for the consumer to automatically associate your product with your brand. But, when these assets are working well, they can help to massively increase brand awareness.

We can look at countless examples of this, from how Fortnum and Mason packaging defines the products within. This gives an instantly recognisable association of quality. This brand asset is crucial to its success so it stands out from competitors. Letting consumers know they haven’t got any old basic shortbread tin. 

Check out our Graphic Design page for more information on graphical assets for a brand.

Types of Brand Assets

Brand assets come in many different forms—some are visual, others are intangible. But together, they create the identity your audience sees, hears, and interacts with. Let’s break down the key categories of brand assets and explore examples of each.

Visual Brand Assets

These are often the most immediately recognisable parts of a brand. They shape the way people visually experience your business.

• Logo: A logo is the cornerstone of your visual identity. Think of Nike’s Swoosh or the golden arches of McDonald’s.

• Typography: Fonts can convey a lot—playfulness, authority, modernity. Coca-Cola’s flowing script is instantly recognisable.

• Colour Palette: Colours have emotional impact. Tiffany’s robin egg blue, for instance, is so iconic it’s trademarked.

• Icons and Illustrations: These small design elements support your branding across websites, apps, and packaging.

• Packaging: High-end brands like Fortnum & Mason use packaging design as a key part of their premium positioning.

Verbal Brand Assets

Words matter, especially when it comes to how your brand sounds and communicates.

• Slogans and Taglines: Short phrases like “I’m Lovin’ It” or “Just Do It” pack a huge punch. They’re catchy, memorable, and tied to brand personality.

• Tone of Voice: Whether you’re playful, professional, or rebellious—your tone shapes how people perceive you. Innocent Drinks, for example, use a cheeky and casual tone in all their copy.

• Brand Stories: Your origin story, mission, and purpose add depth to your identity and help build emotional connections.

Audio Brand Assets

Sound is a powerful tool, often underused in branding. It can build recognition just as effectively as visuals.

• Jingles: These musical hooks, like McDonald’s “ba da ba ba ba,” help people instantly associate the sound with the brand.

• Sonic Logos: Intel’s iconic chime or Netflix’s “ta-dum” are sonic cues that build brand familiarity within seconds.

Experiential Brand Assets

These are built through interaction and experience. They aren’t always visual or verbal—but they are just as powerful.

• User Interface (UI): Brands like Apple are known for intuitive, clean, and polished digital experiences. The UI becomes a signature part of their identity.

• In-Store Experience: From scent to layout, stores like Lush or Apple create consistent brand experiences that customers remember and return to.

Strategic Brand Assets

These sit behind the scenes, but they are essential to long-term brand success.

• Brand Positioning: This is how your brand is perceived in the market compared to competitors. Volvo is positioned around safety, for instance.

• Partnerships and Sponsorships: Strategic alliances can also serve as brand assets. Red Bull’s sponsorship of extreme sports, for example, reinforces its identity as a high-energy, adrenaline-focused brand.

Examples of Brand Assets

There are many well known cases of brand assets that we could cover here, but instead we thought we’d cover 3. 

Might be of interest – How to identity your brand

McDonalds Brands Assets

“I’m Lovin It”, one of the most famous slogans, is a brand asset. A slogan is a form of brand asset as it reflects the brand and creates an association with the owner of the slogan. This slogan became so successful because the creators originally released it with a catchy jingle. The catchy jiggle servers as another brand asset. 

The London Underground

The London Underground has stood the test of time. Remaining a crucial part of London’s transport infrastructure for over 150 years and with that, so has its brand assets.

The original Roundel (the name of the London Underground Logo) came into existence in 1908. This iconic shape is recognisable throughout the UK and the world. With a slight refresh in the 1970s, the logo has remained much the same since.

Red Bulls Brand Assets Strategy

Red Bull has some amazing brand assets. The energy drink company grown into a powerhouse of multiple industries. From Red Bull racing through to Red Bull Rampage (a downhill mountain biking competition) they have a wide range of assets.

Their strategy of being the most extreme has led them to sponsor, promote and run multiple entities. These entities alone have have themselves become businesses. These are all brand assets as they reflect back on Red Bull. 

Hastings Direct Insurance

This is a very niche – but very effective – example of a brand asset. Hastings, for international readers, is an insurance company here in the UK. This brand asset isn’t their logo or font; it relies on their telephone number and their adverts. Hastings Direct based its branding around the battle of 1066 (a famous battle in the UK), and used this date as their phone number.

Combining an advert and this catchy phone number saw an incredible rise in their brand awareness. Especially during the height of an advertising campaign.

Might be of interest – Hastings Direct Advert

How to Create Effective Brand Assets

Creating impactful brand assets doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a clear strategy, creativity, and a deep understanding of your audience. Below is our simple guide to create brand assets.

Conduct Brand Discovery

Before you create anything visual or verbal, you need to understand your brand from the inside out. This involves asking key questions:

• What is your mission and purpose?

• What values define your brand?

• What do you want people to feel when they interact with you?

This stage helps shape the foundation your brand assets will be built on.

Define Your Audience and Brand Values

Your assets should resonate with your target audience. Take time to map out your customer personas and understand what appeals to them visually and emotionally. At the same time, align every decision with your brand values. Whether you’re aiming for bold and edgy or calm and trustworthy, your brand assets should reflect that.

Design for Consistency and Memorability

This is where your brand’s visual identity starts to take shape. Logos, colour palettes, fonts, image styles—each of these should look good individually. However, it should also work together seamlessly. Memorability is key.

A great brand asset is instantly recognisable and leaves a lasting impression.

Test and Refine Your Assets

Before you roll out your assets publicly, test them. Get feedback from your team, a focus group, or even a small section of your target audience. See what works, what doesn’t, and tweak accordingly. Sometimes what looks great in theory doesn’t translate well in practice.

Measuring the Impact of Brand Assets

Once your brand assets are out in the wild, it’s important to measure how they’re performing. This helps you make informed decisions and ensures your branding efforts are having the desired effect.

Brand Recall and Recognition

Can consumers identify your brand after only a brief interaction? Brand recall tests—where participants are shown assets or asked to name brands associated with certain elements—can help measure this.

Social Listening Tools

Monitoring how your brand is being talked about online can be a powerful indicator of brand asset performance. Tools like Brandwatch or Hootsuite allow you to track mentions, hashtags, and even sentiment associated with your assets.

Engagement Metrics

Keep an eye on how your branded content is performing. Are your campaigns being shared? Are your social media graphics getting likes and comments? High engagement is often a sign that your assets are connecting with your audience.

Surveys and Customer Feedback

Sometimes, the best insights come from simply asking. Use surveys, email feedback forms or customer interviews to learn how your brand visuals and messaging are being received.

Learn more on measuring marketing communications here.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even well-intentioned branding can go wrong if you fall into these common traps. Here’s a checklist of things to steer clear of:

Inconsistency Across Platforms

One of the quickest ways to dilute your brand is by using different versions of your brand assets. Whether someone is on your Instagram page, website or receiving a printed flyer, the brand should feel consistent.

View our article looking at the importance of Brand Guidelines.

Overcomplicating the Visuals

Less is often more. Crowded logos, too many colours or complicated fonts can confuse rather than impress. The strongest brand assets are simple and scalable.

Following Trends Over Strategy

It’s tempting to jump on design trends to feel current. But trendy doesn’t always mean timeless. Your assets should reflect your brand’s personality and long-term goals—not what’s popular this month.

Failing to Update Outdated Assets

Stale branding can harm your credibility. While consistency is important, it doesn’t mean you should never evolve. Review your assets regularly and modernise when necessary to stay relevant.

The Role of Brand Assets in Digital Marketing

Your digital presence is often the first touchpoint customers have with your brand. That’s why brand assets play a vital role across all areas of digital marketing.

Paid Ad Campaigns

In a crowded ad space, brand assets like your logo, slogan, and visual tone help you stand out. Cohesive design in ads improves recognition and increases click-through rates. A well-placed jingle or slogan can also increase memorability, leading to better campaign results.

Social Media Branding

Social platforms thrive on visual storytelling. Branded templates, filters, and consistent typography create a professional and trustworthy presence. Whether it’s your Instagram grid or LinkedIn banners, strong assets reinforce who you are at a glance.

Learn more on branded social content.

Influencer Collaborations

When working with influencers, your assets provide them with the tools they need to accurately represent your brand. Clear logos, messaging guidelines, and tone of voice instructions help ensure they speak to their audience while staying aligned with your identity.

Website UI/UX

A brand’s website is often its most powerful asset. Everything from the layout to the colour scheme and font choices should align with your brand identity. A seamless user interface that reflects your branding not only looks good—it builds trust and improves conversions.

View our article explaining the importance of UX.

Do You Now Know What a Brand Assets is? 

Let’s wrap up this article by considering what brand assets are. They are unique designs, ideas and features of a brand that make the brand stand out. Brand assets can be anything from a telephone number through to a logo or the user interface. They can all have a big impact on brand awareness and sales. 

For help on creating assets for your brand, get in touch by contacting us using the information below.