Branding here, there, and everywhere! So much more than ‘just a logo’.

As branding experts, it’s often frustrating when people refer to ‘just a logo’ as their brand as it’s so much more than this. Whilst a brand is a foundation of your business and a strong one will attract customer preference and ward off competitors – a logo is that immediately recognised symbol of all that your brand stands for.

We look at the different areas of branding to demonstrate how important it is to get it right from the start and as you continue to grow. Creating your brand should be seen as a business investment that will reap long-term benefits.

What is branding?

Branding makes you stand out to your customers and target audience and using a mix of tools such as product design, features, and attributes create your distinctive image forming your brand identity. Under the branding umbrella companies must also consider in their marketing the brand, brand name, brand mark, trademark, and trade name. We break these down to see how each plays a role:

Brand

A brand is a term, name, design, or symbol that sets your goods or services apart from your competitors such as Toyota in the car industry.

Brand name

This is the part that can be spoken such as Cadburys and can be as fundamental as the product or service to the customer.

Brand mark

A symbol or design that cannot be spoken such as the Nike ‘swoosh’ or the World Wildlife Fund panda.

Trademark

A trademark indicates that the owner has exclusive use of a brand which must be registered at a relevant patenting office. The Nike trademark includes the ‘swoosh’ and the phrase ‘just do it.’

Trade name

The full and legal company name such as Google, Coca-Cola, and Nike.

Slogan/Tagline

The job of the tagline is to help the target audience associate the brand name with an idea – words that capture the unique value a brand offers its audience. While Apple encourages the idea to ‘Think different’, Nike encourages us to ‘just do it’ and when we hear the words ‘finger lickin’ good’ then chances are, you’ll think of KFC’s chicken with its secret recipe of 11 herbs & spices.

Why it’s not ‘just a logo’

You can see that creating a brand is not as simple as just popping in a name on a logo design website and seeing what they come up with. To be seen as a serious and professional business your brand needs to be well thought out and care must be taken to ensure that it portrays how you want to be seen by the world. Once your brand is developed care must also be taken to ensure it is consistent across your entire marketing literature both on and offline so that people can instantly recognise it and associate it with you.

Importance of brand consistency

increase in revenue has been seen when brands are presented consistently (Lucidpress)

Consumers buy based on trust

of consumers said they need to trust a brand before buying from them (Edelman)