When you talk to anyone outside of the “marketing sphere”, most will confuse a “brand” with a “logo”.
A simple manner in which to understand the distinction may be the following:
A logo is one representation of your brand. It is a “mark” which reminds people of your brand. It is NOT your “brand”.
Your “brand” is everyone and everything that represents the core values of your company/institution/person. When people read your name, they associate it with your “brand”. When they see your products, they do the same. Within the brand persona lies the key to whether or not you have paid attention to it in a manner which has created some kind of loyalty beyond reason to your brand by any of the stakeholders associated with you.
When investors hear your company name (also part of your brand), do they have confidence, do they get excited, do they want more, does it relate to their core values/lifestyle?
When customers see your “logo”, does it remind them of a fantastic experience, do they get a rush, or does it remind them of failure/inadequacy/poor customer service?
When vendors hear your name, are they reminded of how well they were treated?
When employees walk into the door of your facility onto which your “logo” is affixed, do they feel pride, loyalty, desire to excel?
As one example of a “brand in motion”, Dell computers has been in a brand reshaping exercise for a while as it seeks to reconnect with consumers, of which it has divergent targets. While the Dell logos have not changed as part of this exercise, their branding certainly has.
So to all who feel that a “logo” is a brand, perhaps the above explanation has helped you further yourself from previously held beliefs about branding. The “why” of your company/institution/self is the most serious and first question which one must ask when creating a brand. And it will be the actions that you take which will speak to your brand far more than the words which you write/post/blog.
So now let’s bring it back to the first premise about a “logo”. If you are reshaping a logo, what are the questions’ that you’d want answered before embarking on such a venture? Might it be “What is the significance to all stakeholders of the brand that I wish it to represent”?
Sass
6 Comments
Got you covered every which way….
http://tdr.uspto.gov/jsp/DocumentViewPage.jsp?77317899/ORC20090414002340/Registration%20Certificate/1/14-Apr-2009/sn/false#p=1
LOVE IT! Now that I know our family name is covered….oooh the possibilities! I think I’ll start a lingerie line…no wait…you’ve already done that for us!
Speaking about branding….can you outline for us the marketing program/strategy you have develop for Sunlogics’s intellectual property of off-grid and grid-tie solar charging products? (That is, if that is still your mandate.) Just looking for progress, that’s all. There are a lot of unhappy investors due to the lack of information coming from SLMU.
Re: SLMU
There is no question that we dropped the ball. What I can publicly say is that we are reconfiguring our approach and redirecting people to their unique abilities. I would ask for continued patience in this situation. Everything has taken longer than expected, and those who chastised us for the manner in which we have communicated are completely within their right.
Products
The marketing program strategy will benefit from unique partnerships in combining the EV charger opportunities with renewable energy systems. I can’t say more, and I know once again I’ll face the wrath of those that write “here we go again”, yet I am still here and still positive…and it doesn’t just come from dancing with the butterflies every once in a while either :).
Sass
Take as long as you need to get it right. We are all excited about the future of Sunlogics!
Good point! I am one who found the differences of Logo and brand unclear You really opened my eyes.
Thank you!