BRAND, BRAND STRATEGY & BRAND IDENTITY - AN INTRODUCTION

Brand, Brand Strategy and Brand Identity are all keywords that are used loosely by a lot of people to describe the same thing, but you’d be incredibly surprised at actually how big the differences between them are, and how often they’re misused and misunderstood.

They all work together holistically to help reach intended audiences and accomplish goals, but to get to this point, a brand needs to be structured at a deeper level by giving each of these pillars the correct attention to detail to essentially ‘get it right’. The purpose of this article is to discuss the main differences between these pillars, and help you to make sense of the common misconceptions that many share so that you too can implement these correctly and build strong foundations for future brands for yourself or others.

So, What is a Brand?

Your brand can be understood simply as everything that people can see, hear and feel in relation to a business. It can be boiled down to the complete experience that people have interacting with you. Whether this is browsing a website, connecting on social media, conversing with customer service, or purchasing products, your brand remains the same consistent element: it's the encompassing core of what makes you, you. It can be thought of as the collective personality that you put out into the world to make connections and build relationships to allow you to make statements that the rest of the crowd aren't making.

The exercise of branding a business as a process becomes the vessel in which you design the way you want people to perceive your business, how it makes your audience feel, the way it looks and how it is intended to be experienced. So the next question is how do you develop a brand that not fits you, but is also one of quality. This is where you require a brand strategy.

What is a Brand Strategy?

A brand strategy by definition is the comprehensive framework that defines what a brand stands for, how it communicates and how it engages with audiences. Your brand strategy is essentially the complete foundation of your brand - the ground level upon which everything else is built.

A strong brand strategy should encompass your mission, your vision, your values and your objectives, and it should be completely centred around your purpose. By ensuring that you are identifying and communicating these while answering the questions of who you are, what you do and who you serve, you begin to carve out a brand that reflects your business. By extension, you are then developing a brand that resonates with your intended audience. Lacking a brand strategy means that you’re forsaking clarity, and without clarity you’re missing out on that resonance and the opportunity to build transparency and trust with that audience.

Working with a brand designer can benefit you tremendously in this department to ensure you aren’t missing any crucial attributes that can help with creating connections or be used further along in the design process (especially in the visual side of things - don’t worry, we’ll get to this!). When undertaking my own brand strategy workshops, one of the very first steps I take with all of my clients is to ask some of the following questions:

• What is your purpose?
• What is your mission?
• What are your values?
• Who is your primary audience?
• Who are your competitors?
• And what differentiates you from them?

The answers you provide help to build a picture of your brand and what you’re trying to achieve. They begin to formulate the start of a strategy that, in response, begins to develop a creative brief to take into the creation of the visual side of your business. This is where your brand identity can begin to take shape.

What is a Brand Identity?

Your brand identity is the face of your brand. It contains all of the visual aspects that form your brand image, and it should align seamlessly with all of the elements identified and planned out within your brand strategy.

With a well defined brand strategy, you unlock the ability to craft a unique and memorable brand identity that encapsulates every characteristic of your business to connect with who you need to. Without it, you run the risk of having a detached identity that doesn't reflect or showcase your brand how you intended or connect with people on the level you expected it to.

Every successful brand should have a brand identity that consists of the following visuals as a minimum:

• A versatile logo suite
• A colourscape/brand palette
• Patterns and textures
• Typography
• Iconography
• Imagery

Each of these visuals will be designed and brought together cohesively to represent you in the exact way required. After all, your brand identity is your gateway to communicating with the world, so it needs to be given the right amount of care to consistently be able to portray your business. By doing all of this successfully, your business should benefit from a level of strong consistency and comprehension that represents the brand perfectly in visual form.

How These Work Together

Now that we understand the definitions and differences of each of these areas, we can take a look at the relationship that these share and how they’re connected in a visual format. Let me introduce you to the Brand Iceberg.

The diagram below presents these fundamentals in a simple and clear way that is quite self explanatory. Your brand is the iceberg as a whole. It is separated into two halves - the ‘visible’ and the ‘invisible’. The visible part of the iceberg is your identity that directly engages and communicates with audiences. But your identity can only exist if it is supported by and built upon the invisible foundation found beneath water level - your strategy.

This can be applied universally to every successful brand. There will be a visible and an invisible side that power the brand machine behind a business. But just like in reality no two icebergs will ever be exactly the same, and in contrast, neither will two brand strategies. It’s important to understand that the foundation layer to the iceberg should be given the time and effort it deserves to be able to support what builds on top.

So, In Summary

So, to recap everything here in short:

• Your Brand is every way in which people experience and perceive your business.
• Your Brand Strategy is the framework that clarifies your brand.
• Your Brand Identity is the visual representation of your brand that aligns with your brand strategy.

If you’re ready to explore taking your business to the next level, are looking for further information or advice regarding this subject or are interested in creating a brand for your business, head to the contact page and reach out today - I’d be more than happy to help you start your journey on building a brand that reflects you as well as one that lasts.