In the situation of the words “brand” and “branding”, a lot of people seem to have very different ideas as to their meaning. Some equate branding with marketing, and while these two business tools are interconnected, they’re not the same thing. Others believe that a brand is nothing more than a logo.
Logos can do a very good job delivering a brand message (or not), but in many cases, if someone was to look at a logo without knowing what the corresponding company was about, that logo would give them no knowledge as to what the company does or what it offers.
What is a brand?
A brand is like the umbrella term for everything your business stands for and represents. There are many different aspects of a brand which make up the brand itself and the company.
A business with ‘good branding’ will have many customers and potential clients holding a very positive opinion of it. Poor branding means that people generally avoid the organization and don’t make a point of being associated with it. We can probably all think of at least one organisation which we would would not want to be associated with as a customer– these types of examples are what are known as bad branding.
A brand isn’t just about reputation, though. It’s also about the way people think about your business and how they connect to it. For example, some brands are known for being ‘reliable’. Some brands are known for great customer service. Others are known as being very personable and honest.
What is a logo?
By comparison, a logo is just one part of an organisation’s brand. While the brand doesn’t really change unless there is a big upheaval of the whole organisation and many major changes made, the logo may change more than once during the lifetime of a company or institution.
Many companies which have kept the same logo for years have become popular and famous, not merely because they have a good brand but because they have such a well-known logo. The logo is the design by which an organisation becomes instantly known. Since so many people are able to remember things through visual aids, this is the main reason why logos exist.
So what’s the difference between the two?
A new logo can be designed and implemented for a business at any time. However, branding takes a long time to build up. It involves many different elements, heavily related to the design and advertising aspect of the company, but also related to the ways in which the business is run. Things might be done just because they are part of the organisation’s ‘brand’.
The most important aspect of branding is getting people to attach your company name, logo and products to your unique story. This means being uniquely different from your competitors, and the rest of the marketplace as it currently exists.
For free, no-obligation, consultation to discuss how you can get the best results from your branding, design, advertising, printing, social media, internet and marketing projects across all sectors of your business please contact us.
AI Studio Team
Think. Create. Grow.