Branding vs. A Logo
Nike brand without even showing the logo.
It’s a question that makes creatives cringe: “So, what’s the difference between a logo and a brand?”
Actually, it’s a great question and we’re glad you asked.
A logo is a graphic mark; a concrete object — a thing. It communicates your company name with type or a graphic element. A brand on the other hand isn’t a “thing.” A brand, it’s been said is “what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Your brand is a promise you’ve made that your client believes in. It lives in their hearts and minds long after your logo has left the building. It’s your personality, your values and what people can predict — and expect — about you and from you. It is the sum total of your customer’s experiences and perceptions.
Too, a brand is not the sum of your logo, tag line or overall campaign — these are simply “expressions” of a brand. For instance, the Nike “swish” is the company’s logo. The Nike brand is the message of power, competition, excellence, victory and hard work. Disney has a logo typeface known the world over but it’s brand is making dreams come true. Additionally, Apple has a logo that would make an alien stop and clap but Apple’s brand is “thinking differently” and it is expressed in everything from their written ads, their package design, their commercials, their CEO and their employees.
Our office has a melting pot of competing brand lovers — some might even be borderline brand stalkers. We love Starbucks. We love Apple. We love Disney. We love Target. We love IKEA. We don’t purchase based on logos, rather, we purchase based on our trust and love of a brand that repeatedly gives us what they’ve promised.
So as hard as you work at building your business, it serves you well to craft, guide and manage your brand carefully. Now more than ever, it’s branding that sets companies apart and wins loyal customers — logos alone can’t lay claim to that kind of fame.
AMP YOUR BRAND: Here are just a few of the many questions we ask clients who come to us for brand development.
1. What are the core values of your company?
2. Does your name, copy and tagline reflect your core values?
3. If your company were a person, what would its character be like? What qualities stand out? Is your company creative, inspiring, bold, lively, accessible or sophisticated? Is it serious, quirky, innovative or reliable?
4. Why do customers choose your business? What sets you apart? Not what you think sets you apart but what actually sets you apart. (Ask them!)
5. What are the feelings your most satisfied customers get when they work with you? (Fun, friendly, serious, somber, exciting, whimsical, brainy, empowering).
6. What values are most important to your core customers?
7. Does you’re the tone of your web, ad, collateral copy match your brand personality and promise?
8. What is one thing that sets you apart from your competition? How are you telling that story?
This is a very abbreviated skip across a very deep pond called Branding but it will at least give you something to cook on as you dive deeper into who you are as a company and why the world should care. It’s also a very slight nod to the topic of logos, both of which will get more real estate in future blogs.
© 2009 Birdsong Creative, Inc.
