Branding
While you’re developing your business, product, and service ideas, you should also consider how you will present them to your customer.
In this session, you’ll learn about the basics of branding, including brand names, slogans, and logos. You’ll also have an opportunity to get creative and do some branding work.
What Branding Is All About
What is a Brand?
There are many definitions of a brand, but our favorite comes from Simon Middleton, a British brand expert. In his book Build a Brand in 30 Days, he says, “Brand is about meaning. Your brand is everything that your customers and prospective customers think, feel, say, hear, read, watch, imagine, suspect, and even hope about your product, service, or organization.”
(Here, the word customers refers to both the external clients who bring business and the internal clients, such as the employees, stakeholders, and suppliers that support your business.)
Why a Brand?
People use brands to help them navigate today’s marketplace of overflowing choices. If you’re in a hurry and you just want a hamburger, will you choose the familiar golden arches or the no-name burger stand? If you want a certain style of shoes, will Nike’s trademark swoosh help to make the decision a little easier?
What’s in a Brand?
Your brand can include:
A catchy name
A logo (an image) or logotype (words associated with an image)
Trademark colors
Characters
A particular style, look, and feel
An attitude
A set of feelings and values
Anything you want!
What is Branding, Then?
The word branding encompasses the entire process of creating, managing, and evaluating that brand. It’s how you build relationships with people through the image that the brand gives out. Your brand should therefore always be integrated into all facets of your organization.
Why Branding is the Most Important Investment a Company Can Make
Branding can be a costly project and a big investment. Many business owners are reluctant to invest their time and money in a full branding project, particularly since branding and graphic design experts can come with a hefty price tag.
However, branding doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. If you know what questions to ask, you can work through the process yourself. Then, you can work with a graphic designer to bring your vision to life.
Your brand is what customers will see and remember. Make it count.
Developing Your Brand Name
A great brand name has huge value by itself. You will want to develop a great name for your business and for each product or service that you offer.
Here is what you don’t want in a name:
- Something that is boring and not distinctive
- Something that is hard to pronounce or remember
- Something that might have negative connotations for a particular segment of the population
- Acronyms and inside jokes
You do want a name that is:
- Memorable and noticeable
- Speaks about your product or service
- Engages customers
- Unique
- Appropriate and inoffensive
Developing a Slogan
We like the word “slogan” because of its origins: it comes from the Gaelic word sluagh-ghairm, which means “battle cry.” You might also know a slogan as a motto, tagline, mantra, or strapline. Whatever you call it, it had best be good.
Can you identify the companies or products associated with these taglines?
- Just do it.
- Expect more. Pay less.
- All the news that’s fit to print.
- Drivers wanted.
- Save money. Live better.
Not all products have a slogan, but a good one can significantly add to your brand’s value and give your brand bigger exposure. A good slogan is short, punchy, appropriate, and true to the product. To create it, we suggest brainstorming words and short phrases that describe your product’s purpose. Then, narrow the focus down, test a few phrases out, and choose the best result.
Types of Logos
There are four common types of logos. As you are reviewing these examples, consider what might work for your company. Please note that we have included these logos for demonstration purposes only. These works are the properties of their respective owners and Velsoft maintains no rights to these trademarks.
Pictorial Mark
This is often what people think of when they think of a logo. It’s a simple image or symbol that is chosen to represent the brand.
Letterform
This approach takes one or more letters from the company name and turns it into art, essentially combining the brand name and the logo.
Wordmark
Similar to the Letterform design, this approach makes art out of the entire company name.
Emblems
The final major category is emblems, which combines a wordmark and symbol to create a unique visual identity.