If you know at least one graphic designer, odds are you’ve heard the phrase “your brand is not your logo!!!” before.

Despite being a totally overused and regurgitated statement by every designer with asocial presence (and at the risk of jumping on that bandwagon): it’s true.

Branding is a pretty nebulous term. To the average person, it’s not entirely obvious what it means.

We all know brands. We engage with them on a daily basis. We build connections with them. We love them. We hate them. We have visceral reactions to their products and decisions, for better or worse.

As consumers, we’re constantly building relationships with brands, whether we’re aware of it or not. Likewise, the same applies to your customers and their relationship with your brand.

The perception you’ve crafted and all the emotions tied to it is called branding, and it serves as the middle ground between your core audience’s values and your company’s vision. As a whole, branding involves 3 key ingredients: brand strategy, brand identity, and visual identity.

Knowing the differences between these terms and the impact they have on your business is crucial in crafting a confident brand and building a long-lasting reputation

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Brand Strategy: The Foundation of Every Strong Brand

As the blueprint of your entire brand, Brand Strategy involves aligning your company’s mission, vision and values with your brand’s goals.

Think of it like dough. It’s those boring, base ingredients that form a basis for all the form and flavor going forward.

Essentially, Brand Strategy is the roadmap that guides how your brand interacts with the world and positions itself in the marketplace. Without one, people’s experience with your brand will be fragmented and confusing.

Underneath every brand strategy is a firm understanding of the brand’s target audience: What they’re looking for, what their pain points are, and how your brand can meet their needs in unique and interesting ways.

It also involves gathering a clear understanding of your competitive landscape, so you can take the required steps to set your brand apart, and bring something unique to the table.

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Key elements of brand strategy include:

Positioning: How you want your brand to be seen in your market

Values: The guiding principles that influence your brand’s actions

Target Audience: Who you’re trying to reach, and why they should care about your brand

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A strong brand strategy clarifies your message and communicates it in an effective way, consistently across all your marketing touchpoints to all the people that matter to you.

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Brand Identity: Who Your Brand Is

 If brand strategy is the dough of your brand, brand identity is the way you form it. Is it a flaky croissant, or round and flat like a pizza?

 The personality and essence of your brand, your brand identity is how your brand expresses itself across every single one of your brand’s touchpoints. Equal parts visual and verbal, brand identity is where your brand takes a tangible form.

 Through the use of marketing materials, communications, and customer interactions, your brand will have a chance to express its personality, and create trust and recognition in your audience.

Key elements of brand identity include: 

Voice: The way you talk, and the tone you take when communicating

Messaging: Key messages and promises that you consistently communicate

Personality: The traits that define your brand

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A good brand identity is built with your brand strategy in mind, ensuring that every interaction aligns with your brand values and positioning.

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Visual Identity: What Your Brand Looks Like

Exactly what it sounds like, Visual Identity includes all the aesthetic components of your brand that allow it to be seen, recognized and remembered.

To continue the dough theme: Your visual identity is all the ingredients that add a unique flavour to your brand. If you’re making a pizza—It’s what separates the Hawaiian from the Pepperoni.

From core components like your logo, color palette, and typography, to tangible materials like a website or menu, this is where and how you introduce yourself to your audience, and create a lasting impression.

A strong visual identity is consistent, cohesive, and communicates your personality quickly and clearly. The objective is to be memorable and quickly understood, whenever and wherever its encountered.

Key elements of visual identity include:

Logo: Essentially, the face of your brand; it’s most recognizable symbol

Color Palette: All the colors you consistently use to evoke different emotions and associations

Typography: The fonts you use to convey your personality and messaging

Imagery: The kinds of photos, graphic elements and illustrations you use that align with your personality

The more consistently your visual identity is applied across all your touchpoints, the easier it will be to attract customers, retain them, and build recognition within your market. If it’s a good one, that is.

Of course, consistency isn’t all that matters: Ensure its expertly designed and capable of wowing your audience to create an impression that lasts.

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It really isn’t a logo

Your brand is an ecosystem of interconnected parts that contribute to a bigger whole. Without understanding the distinct differences between them, you’ll never be able to properly convey your value to your audience.

Understanding the differences between brand strategy, brand identity, and visual identity will help you craft a brand with more clarity and less confusion, allowing you to make decisions that drive your business forward, and giving you the confidence you need to stand out from the competition while influencing the experience and perception of your company. This is the essence of branding.

Your decisions will become more intentional, allowing you to properly allocate your resources on marketing a brand with clear and easily understood messaging that actually resonates with your audience.

Branding is the combination of these 3 key ingredients, creating the experience and perception of your company. If you want to create a long-lasting, relevant image that resonates with your audience, you need an intentional and strategically designed brand.

If you don’t know where to start, I can help. Send me a message today and we’ll get to work on creating a brand with your own unique and unmistakable flavor.

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