I recently read an article that talked about how branding is not a logo, product, or promise, but it is a gut feeling a customer has about a service or product. The article went on to say how branding is more the result of a logo, marketing, social media, images, videos, hashtags, speaking events, conferences, and billboards. Further, the article stated that brands do not want you to think about the product, but the emotion and value.
I have written about the importance of having a brand for your business, no matter the size. I agree, to an extent, that branding is not a logo, product, or promise. It is not! Branding is an overall look, feel, and consistency. Branding should reflect the business’s character, mission statement, or the feeling the business wants its customers to feel.
Branding ensures consistency in the marketing of your business. It ties everything about your business marketing into a tidy bow. It ensures that colors and fonts are consistent and complement each other throughout all your marketing pieces. It accounts for making sure that your logo, webpage, social media, business cards, marketing material all have a consistent look to help reinforce your brand. Branding also allows you to have variations to the look, yet keep consistent with the overall brand, whether color or black and white.
Small businesses don’t need to get so detailed but they need to make sure it is all consistent. That the look is the same throughout all the marketing. Corporations take it to the extreme, such as a logo must be a certain size, in a certain location, on letterhead, etc.
Think of the most recognizable brands, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, BMW, Chevrolet, Apple, and on and on. You know their brands by their logos, or simply by their overall look. For example, you could see a red background with a white wiggly white ribbon, and right away you know it’s Coke Cola. You see the Apple logo or a gold bowtie and immediately you know it’s Apple Computers or Chevrolet. Just because these are worldwide brands doesn’t mean branding is strictly for multi-billion dollar corporations. Small businesses need to have brand recognition within their community.
So…Branding is not just a logo, it is not a symbol, product, or promise. It’s all of that and more. You want your brand, whatever it is, to be recognizable to your clients. You want to be memorable, and evoke a feeling within your clients. That will make them think of your business and want to come back.
Reference:
Kristi Pelzel “Branding is not a logo” medium.com December 11, 2021
Geoff Cummings is President of On The Level Marketing & Consulting, LLC. Successfully helping businesses with all their marketing needs by branding their businesses and keeping marketing simple and straightforward.
On The Level Marketing & Consulting | Marketing Built For You!
Creative|Trustworthy|Hassle-Free
All Rights Reserved 2022
