Branding is not just about logo design

Branding is whatever is brought to mind when you think about a particular product or company. This association could be an image, idea, word, or phrase. Take Nike,some may instantly think of running, others the ‘swoosh’, or the tagline “Just do it!’. All of these associations stem from a precise brand essence.

A brand essence are the words or phrase built around the company’s values. With Nike, those words may revolve around ‘innovation’ and ‘inspiration’. From this, a succinct visual brand world is carefully tailored to the DNA of that company.

Companies use this visual brand world to build a thread that runs through every touchpoint. From the company logo, the office look and feel, the type of product or service it creates, where it advertises, who it partners with, who it’s audience is and how it talks to them.

Providing shortcuts to a company’s values

Companies with an understanding of their brand strategy can clearly define how they are different from the competition and the audience understand there is a difference.

Branding builds a culture, engaging with an audience who generally share, or connect to it’s values. For consumer brands like Nike, it emotionally creates a tribe or community. For corporate business, it helps demonstrate the offer clearly for investors, partners, employees or customers.