One of the business books on my shelf has a ragged, dog-eared page or two containing a definition of “brand” and “branding.” I drag that book out now and then not because I think the information is useful, but because I think it is dead wrong.
The book asserts that a “brand” is the logo that a business uses to distinguish itself from competitors. That’s a common thought, and the words “brand” and “logo” are often used synonymously to describe the appearance of a logo, brochure, or website.
But is your logo your brand?
I say no.
A brand is what people experience when they engage with your business. A logo is just the set of symbols used to say, “hey customer, you’re about to experience my brand.”
Don’t believe me? Here’s proof.
Let’s pretend I own and operate “From the Grounds Up,” a nice little coffee shop. It would be quite easy to rebrand my business if that just meant creating new signage and logos. In fact, I know several talented graphic designers, and I’m prepared to invest in signs and menus and my website. In just a week or two I could easily emerge a wine bar known as “From the Vine.”
If my logo is my brand, I’ve succeeded.
But, the brand is the experience and my customers will know I’m a cheat the moment they step inside and smell the coffee. If not rebranded anything, just spent money on stuff.
The obvious point is that I can’t expect a logo or sign to the job of managing my brand. There’s little point in trying to develop a “high tech” brand unless I invest in technology. And I can’t expect to be known as the friendly coffee shop unless I have customer service models, training for my staff, and hiring and retention processes that put a priority on “friendly.”
The challenge all organizations face — big, small, private or public — is aligning the actual brand that people experience with the many communications methods that we use to share our brand story and engage customers. That means we need to plan for the experience we think our customers expect, and plan more after that to be sure we deliver.
Along the way, we might want to actually connect with customers to learn if they are, in fact, experiencing a brand that creates loyalty and ongoing engagement.
Branding is very much a two-sided equation. A big part is planning and creating the perfect customer experience. The other part is putting a name on the experience and making that as memorable as the experience.
I suspect many of us find one part of this equation fun. That’s the creative, the design, and the logo. The other part is ongoing planning, managing and evaluating.
If you feel it is time to rebrand, think about your customers and their experience before you choose a name.
Mark Keller is director, College Advancement, at Medicine Hat College.
