So you’ve started a business… congratulations, you little entrepreneur. Now is the time you start questioning everything. “What next? What is our brand?”
Obviously your next step is to design your logo, right? Brand = Logo. You’ll need something memorable, something straightforward and impressive. Your logo should be a way for customers to identify your product or services, your signature. It needs to represent you. But before we get ahead of ourselves here, it’s important to understand the difference between a brand and a logo. In this three part-blog series I’ll be breaking down the brand building basics. Your topic for today: a brand is more than a logo.
The branding process does not stop at the creation of your logo, this is an all too common mistake that agencies make, not just clients. Think of a brand as the total package and a logo is the box it comes in. While a logo is necessary, it is only an introduction to your brand and a brand is everything that a person experiences when they interact with your business. See the difference?
A good logo is a vital brand asset that will help distinguish you from your competitors and communicate your bottom line to the public. Your brand, on the other hand, carries a higher level of responsibility. It is your personality and all the associations that are made by the consumer with your company. While a designer will certainly build the foundation of your brand, it’s actually your audience that ends up shaping it. Your brand must coincide with the goals of your company, that way you can begin to make an informed branding strategy.
Your brand extends beyond the logo in a number of other ways too: It’s the accent color you choose for the pitch deck; it’s the way your business culture intersects with the brand; it’s the copy that you use for your mission statement; and it’s the tone that copy and artwork jointly set that defines the essence of your brand.
I understand that it’s easy to want to focus on logos at first because they’re more tangible but don’t put the cart before the horse. Don’t get me wrong, you need a logo but you need to think of the bigger brand picture. Your company vision along with customer perceptions and experiences will give you a better understanding of how to tweak your product or your services in order to become what you want your customers to perceive you as.
Hopefully we could provide some clarity and clear up any confusion you might have had about branding and logo design. Comments, questions, or concerns, feel free to contact us. We love feedback!
More on logos next week, stay tuned!