So, you think you know what a brand is, eh?
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Everyone seems to be throwing around the terms “brand” and “branding” lately, but what do they really mean? Let’s see.
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”
I would say that is incorrect. Your name, term, symbol or other features are brand elements—but not your brand. Would you know a BMW without it’s badging? Sure. Could you walk into a logo-less Apple store and know where you are? Of course. What about a Starbucks without the mermaid? All of those companies have created brands that extend far beyond their brand elements.
To me, your brand is “the feeling your audience has when they interact with your product or service.”
Did the American Marketing Association get it completely wrong? I think not. The term that seems to fit best is “design”. The design is the key. Not just graphic design, but every kind of design: from your logo and stationery to the way you interact with customers. That all impacts that feeling your audience has for you.
Decide what your audience wants, or better yet, what they need. Then become it. Make sure everything you do is designed around that central idea—from your logo, to your web site, to the music you play, to emails you send. Then (and this is important) don’t change it until the needs and wants of your audience changes.
Brian K Gray
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What Is a Brand? Do you agree? http://t.co/kBm79fvF
“@joshmiles: These are not brands: http://t.co/JK8ZxWJI new @milesdesign post from @briankgray” Good differentiation!
The AMA’s definition is really just the more traditional definition. In the last 10-15 years, “branding” has grown to include and even become synonymous with the feeling you mention, mostly due to cultural and generational shifts. Though I think particularly for large brands, their design and their “essence” (as I’ll call it) reinforce each other. Yes, walking into an apple store still feels like an apple store, but seeing a simple apple logo on our products, our cars, etc. or the starbucks logo on our cups brings a sense of legitimacy and comfort. For newer brands in a world full of the paradox of choice, the only thing we really have to go by is how we feel when using a product and what others say about it. If we consistently feel positive or hear positive things, we associate that with a strong brand.
Glad the WHAT THEY NEED is in here: “Decide what your audience wants, or better yet, what they need. Then become it. Make sure everything you do is designed around that central idea.”
A good brand doesn’t give only what people want, but shows them how to want what they actually need.
RT @milesdesign: http://t.co/VxANVDGB http://t.co/ptcD7xGJ
I see “brand” as so much bigger than marketing, design, or anything creative. I tend to agree with Marty Neumeier, author of “The Brand Gap” — the brand is the “gut feeling that THEY have about you.” As branding professionals, we can communicate a message, but if that message is incongruent with the consumer experience…then the best design in the world will fail.
Beth – I’m 100% with you. I think Brian’s post is very consistent with that idea as well. (I recommend Brand Gap to just about anyone looking for an introductory book on branding.)
So, you think you know what a brand is, eh? via @milesdesign http://t.co/w87pCWW6
Part of the problem with the word “brand” is that it’s hard to find anything it *doesn’t* include.
Sure, your branding is design elements like logos and colors. It’s aspects of the visual experience like the look and feel of your stores.
It’s also cultural, like the way that your customer service people talk to customers, or the way that your employees talk to each other.
Your brand is also your financial model. Some companies have the brand of paying their bills on time; others have the brand of waiting 60-90 days or disputing every line item. Other companies have the brand of always bidding work out to get the cheapest rate, or hoarding cash to give them market power.
Your brand is also your geography. It’s where you’re based and what people associate with you accordingly.
Your brand is also your age. Are you new and fresh, or aged and experienced?
Your brand is everything. It’s every part of what you put out into the world, whether you want to or not. That makes the word “branding” mean everything. And if it means everything, does it really mean anything?
My brand, by the way, is causing trouble.
RT @joshmiles: So you think you know what a brand is, eh? http://t.co/XtQqtZfK
@robbyslaughter @jjenifer5 @Patrick_Robbins thanks for sharing! So you think you know what a brand is, eh? http://t.co/XtQqtZfK
Great explanation! Thank you! So you think you know what a brand is, eh? http://t.co/9ST0TlgV
I tend to break the term, branding, into sub-fields. The logo could be part of the “graphic branding,” but generally I consider graphic branding to be genres: whimsy, grudge, cartoon, minimalist grid, corporate, earthy–the list could go on. Design is how well you hit and reinforce that graphic brand. For instance, a coffee shop could have a taste brand as in how dark the beans are roasted. Another piece could be how friendly or how fast they can get you your order. Yeah, basically it’s an all encompassing experience.