What's the difference between a brand and a logo?
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.
Is your brand memorable to your audience?
Here at AI Studio we recently rebranded and renamed our agency (we were formerly called Advertising International). This process was to make us more relevant to the services that we provide and to make our brand more memorable to our target audience.
Making anything memorable to a large audience can be difficult. Not everybody is interested in the same thing, and not everybody will be interested in your business and what you have to say. Every business needs to come to terms with the fact that not everybody is going to become involved with your brand or even like what you’re doing and what you have to say.
However, there are many things that you can do to give your business the best chance, and to ensure that your brand remains as memorable as possible to your target audience.
Create a good logo.
When people think about certain brands and companies, the first thing that comes to mind is the logo. This is usually because some logos are very memorable, either as a result of being controversial or a result of being amazingly effective. Work with a good designer who can help you to create a great logo, and be prepared to invest time and resources to get it right. Your logo should include something unique about your business, as well as your business name so that people can remember it easier.
Consider your colours.
You need a good colour palette if you want to appeal to the right audience. The use of colours should reflect your business and what you’re trying to sell, advertise or campaign for. Once you’ve decided this and produced the logos and colour scheme that the public have seen, remain consistent wherever your brand appears. Establish a set of brand guidelines. If you start to use your brand in different colours and formats, it will confuse your audience.
Create a brand that makes sense.
You shouldn’t use a brand name that people find difficult to say, and you shouldn’t choose words that are difficult to spell either. Remember that you want people to be able to find your website and business details in the search engines, and if they can’t remember how something is spelt or they can’t convey the website properly to their friends, you’ll struggle to build up your audience as quickly as you might otherwise be able to.
For free, no-obligation, consultation to discuss how you can get the best results from your design, advertising, printing, social media, internet and marketing projects across all sectors of your business please contact us.
AI Studio Team
Think. Create. Grow.