What is the difference between identity, logo, and brand, and are these three things interchangeable concepts or separate entities completely? People seem to use these words to define a core concept, that is: how a particular brand is perceived/viewed.
Let us unpack these concepts and their individual importance to business and marketing strategy.
Brand
So, what exactly is a brand? This is a loaded question and there are a variety of definitions tossed around the business lexicon in an attempt to try define exactly what a brand? is. Branding and business experts have defined the word in a variety of ways, stating things like, your brand is your promise, or, A brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.
Yup, there are a lot of quirky, catchy, trendy ways to describe a brand these days. This doesn’t make it helpful when trying to define the word and more importantly clearly defining what a brand means for building business value.
So, how would you sum up a brand in a single sentence? A brand is the relationship between your target market and your business.
You don’t just quickly brand a company with colours, a logo design and a catchy tag-line. You have to earn recognition, you have to earn your brand. Your brand is a direct result of strategy, implementation and hard work as well as the energy you dedicate to your clients and potential clients. It is your relationship with your audience that forms the foundation of your value in today’s competitive marketplace.
Logo Design
A logotype, shortened to a logo, is a visual trademark that is created from words, font and design that come together to form a single identifying mark. This identifying mark tells the viewer who the business entity is. Basically, the logo design is the trademark of a business.
This trademark can be a monogram, icon, symbol, sign, badge or related graphic element. McDonald’s uses an M, more commonly identified as the golden arches, while Apple makes use of, well, an apple with a bite taken out of it.
The logo is used to assist the consumer with identifying a business, and signals the quality and origin of a product or service.
Connecting Brand and Logo
As stated previously, a brand refers to the relationship between the consumer and the business while the logotype is a visual projection of this relationship.
The logo points the consumer to the larger company and organisation, and reminds them of the relationship they have with that organisation. Though common and vital to success, the logo is just one signifier of a business. Any prompt, be it smell or touch, has the ability to project a brand, reminding the consumer of the relationship between themselves and the organisation. This is what is referred to as Brand Artifact. Think of the aroma of brewing coffee Starbucks anyone?
In an over-saturated and highly competitive marketplace, with thousands of businesses fighting for value propositions, everyone is desperately trying to make a significant mark. The businesses that win this fight are those who create shared value with their consumer not standing out by simply creating an elaborate logo. A logo needs to be connected to something so much bigger than itself, it needs to tie into the relationship.
Think about it like this, McDonald’s made the golden arches, the golden arches didn’t make McDonald’s.
Brand Identity
So what is your brand identity? It is consistent, engaging artefacts and reminders of the relationship that an organisation has with the consumer.
Artefacts present your brand to the consumer, be this through promotional print material or web-design. You need to ensure that they are consistent in their appearance, size, colour, feel etc. Brand management is key to brand identity and business success.
Brand Management Solutions
Jetline recognised a fundamental gap in the market for an effective brand management solution thus the brand management portal was born. BMP is an all-encompassing system that functions as a digital style guide. It maintains your relevant brand information and guidelines, ensuring brand uniformity across all your marketing and corporate materials.
People do business with companies that they are familiar with. If your branding is uniform it becomes easily recognisable. This makes people feel at ease when purchasing your product or service.
Contact Jetline for your streamlined, easy to use, innovative brand management solution today!
