Repeat after us: your logo is not your brand. Then, Google the term “brand” and see how many websites, thirteen-year-old Harvard Business Review articles, and LinkedIn pages appear. However, what are some standard components of a well-rounded brand? This quick read will offer a little food for thought.
Be a Visionary.
When clients hire us to create or review a brand, we begin with our brand brainstorm session. Together, we discuss brand essentials, such as offers and services, as well as unique differentiators that set a company, department, or solution apart in the market. We talk about what the client wants their visual brand identity to look like, and then we go rogue.
Visualize this: create a vision board for your brand. What photographs are on this imaginary tool? What images, ideas, quotes, and feelings does your brand emote? If images could personify your brand, what would be on your vision board? While the graphics in this exercise may never appear in any marketing materials, clients have shared in the past that this exercise is beneficial in our shared grasp of a brand’s essence.
You’ve Got Personality!
Imagine that you are boarding an airplane to go on vacation. Let’s set the scene: the advertisements on the jet bridge have fun and cheeky language. A friendly flight attendant cheerfully greets you, and later, she serves you “Love Bites” and an in-flight beverage with a napkin. On this napkin, a snappy message catches your attention, and when the flight lands, the entire plane cheers when the attendant gleefully announces, “Welcome to Lost Wages!”
In this example, you probably guessed that you were flying the friendly skies on Southwest Airlines. And you’d be right. Go back and look at how each passenger touchpoint mentioned above exudes the Luv Airline’s brand tone and voice. While not every company’s brand will have friendly language or tongue-in-cheek messaging, every organization needs to spend time determining what brand personality is suitable for it.
Yes, A Logo Is Part of a Visual Brand.
Oxford Dictionary gives us this succinct definition of a logo as an identifier—and it’s an important visual cue to a brand. Other important visual pieces include colors and fonts, which make an organization easily recognizable to others. That big, beautiful pink logo of ours with the bubbly sans serif font (that goes outside of the lines a bit!) was created with intention. A well-developed brand includes a strong logo, colors, typefaces, approved imagery, and beautiful marketing materials among its key components.
We’re Here to Help!
Have we piqued your interest in talking more about your brand? Contact us today for a free consultation to talk more; we live to banter about brands!