It’s much more than a logo: Branding ABCs (or act, be, see) (4/8) 🎨

We have talked about your competitive positioning and how important that is to your brand. 

We have talked about your company culture and how important that is to your brand. 

It’s time to talk about “brand”: what is branding, after all?

To answer that question, I would like to thank the wonderful Kriston Sellier, founder of id8, for sitting down with me to explain branding and why it matters. 

Understand Branding

Branding is, Kriston tells us, “the identity of an organization”. 

It is telling the world “who we are, and what we do”, and in doing so “has the ability to create a subconscious connection… In the design world we refer to that as ‘emotional connection’ which people make in milliseconds … without logic or logical thinking”. 

See the Branding

What a lot of people think of when they hear the word “branding” is a logo. 

And that is an important part of it. But a part of a greater whole. 

A logo itself is made up of “the tangibles of a brand …the logo, the color palette, and the style”. 

Another tangible and visible aspect of the brand is “words like the tagline, the words on a website, how people answer the phone or greet customers and clients” and more. 

Which brings us to …

Act the Branding

“The intangibles of the brand”, which are what comprises company culture. 

In Kriston’s own words again: “It is the feel of being a part of an organization, the experiences, or one could call it the vibe of an organization”. 

What is your brand?

Your brand is what people see when they look at your business, what they hear when they communicate with your business, and how they feel when they interact with your business. 

In a small business much of the brand comes from the values of the founder. Their beliefs, values, their persona many times is the kindling for the brand to catch fire.

As a company grows, those beliefs, values, and personas become the vision of the brand and are written down. This doesn’t just happen. This must be intentional.

If you leave it up to chance, then “people’s perceptions – right or wrong, will become the brand”. 

What next

How are you being intentional about building your brand?

Because: 

Ultimately a strong brand communicates the truth. That’s what “good citizens” want – the truth. Customers appreciate and applaud when a business is honest and straightforward. That truth creates customers that will be customers for a lifetime.