Many businesses overlook the true potential of what a brand can and will accomplish, settling for just a logo. So, what sets a brand apart from a logo. Why is the jump from a logo to a brand so difficult? Why do you need a brand, not just a logo?
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room,”- Jeff Bezos
Simply put, a key success factor for your company is your brand. A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is—it is what consumers tell each other it is.
The answer to the question “what is a brand?” starts with where a brand lives. So where do brands live? Brands live in people’s minds. They live in the minds of everyone who experiences them: employees, investors, the media, and, perhaps most importantly, consumers.
Simply put, brands are perceptions.
As branding expert Marty Neumeier puts it, “A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or organization.” Ashley Friedlein, CEO and co-founder of Econsultancy, has a similar take: “Brand is the sum total of how someone perceives a particular organization.”
To build a great brand, there are three key terms you need to be aware of:
Brand: how people perceive your company.
Branding: the actions you take to build a certain image of your company.
Brand identity: the collection of tangible brand elements that together create one brand image.
Let’s take a deeper dive into these concepts.
What is a brand?
A brand is the emotion behind what someone feels, sees and tastes when they interact with your company on any level. Your brand is the image behind what your business believes and strives to accomplish. As a result, your brand becomes your personality and along with that personality comes numerous associations.
What is branding?
Branding is the act of shaping how a company, organization, or individual is perceived. Although it’s really your customers who decide what your brand is, there are certain actions you can take as a business owner to put yourself in the driver’s seat.
All the steps that you take to build awareness and reputation around your company and its product or services live in the realm of branding.
Before making any branding decisions, first consider this: what is the perception you want to impress on your customers? What’s your goal brand? Be authentic and really dig into the core why of your company. This high-level strategy should help to guide your branding decisions.
What is a brand identity?
Your brand’s identity is more than just its logo. Identity is the visual encapsulation of the deep truths revealed about your brand in strategy and positioning.
An effective identity will embody all of the defining characteristics of your brand, including its personality, promise, and purpose. Your brand’s identity is its stamp on the world—an aesthetic symbol full of meaning that has the power to communicate your brand’s essence in a visual instant to all who experience it.
The identity or ‘image’ of a company is made up of many visual devices:
- A Logo (The symbol of the entire identity & brand)
- Stationery (Letterhead + business card + envelopes, etc.)
- Marketing Collateral (Flyers, brochures, books, websites, etc.)
- Products & Packaging (Products sold and the packaging in which they come in)
- Apparel Design (Tangible clothing items that are worn by employees)
- Signage (Interior & exterior design)
- Messages & Actions (Messages conveyed via indirect or direct modes of communication)
- Other Communication (Audio, smell, touch, etc.)
- Anything visual that represents the business.
All of these things make up an identity and should support the brand as a whole. The logo however, is the corporate identity and brand all wrapped up into one identifiable mark. This mark is the avatar and symbol of the business as a whole.
WHAT NOW?
Want to make the switch from a logo to a brand? Want a more effective logo? By listening to your vision and values, we can help shape your brand and elevate your logo to portray your business more effectively.
Book a free 30-minutes complementary strategy call today.!!!
https://dephlexcreatives.com/#strategy
At Dephlex, we are invested in your SUCCESS.
We want to see you win!
