A Great Brand is More Than a Logo

When people think of branding, the first thing that springs to mind is usually the logo. While visual identity is an important part of branding, it’s simply a gateway to the story you want to tell. There’s much more substance behind the creation, implementation and stewardship of a brand in order to make it great.

“True, Meaningful, Different”

We believe brand power is deeply rooted in three things: knowing what is True about who you are, what is Meaningful to your audiences, and what makes you Different from others in your industry. Discovering these factors is not a simple process. The best way to understand what you want your brand to embody is to engage in internal and external research. Hold key stakeholder interviews to define, together, what you really care about that you want to convey. Discover what really matters about what you do to your target audience. Look at competitive choices to understand what your peers are doing right and wrong, and how you can do it better.

“With insight comes clarity”

While some of your brand’s story will be signaled by your visual identity — your logo, your colors, your composition — it is clarified and solidified by the words you use, the tone you employ, and the manner in which you deliver it. The last thing your brand needs to create is confusion — so you need to clear away the clutter to uncover your brand’s deep insights. Once discovered, they can be transformed into a verbal and visual platform for your brand that reflects what you want to own in the hearts and minds of your target audiences — and how you’re going to signal it. This enables you to ensure your visual and verbal work together, and to fully embody the intersection of your “true, meaningful and different” in every interaction — capturing imaginations and driving sustainable results.

“Empower, enable, embody”

Whether your business is B2B or B2C, e-commerce or brick and mortar, there comes a point at which clients or customers interact with a representative of your brand — a person who is standing in for you and what you stand for. Building on solid foundations of visual and verbal guidelines, you must align your team to cultivate brand knowledge, passion, and ownership throughout your organization. We know it’s not possible to personally control every interaction, but empowered brand stewards guide customers or clients through the brand experience you envision with ease.

“Make room to flourish”

Confidence in your team and feeling in control of your brand perceptions enables you to take back the time and space you need to grow, create, and be visionary.

(This sponsored content was provided by SIGNAL.csk.)

Cheryl Farr is the founder of SIGNAL.csk, a Denver-based brand consultancy and strategic creative firm. She is a brand innovator, public speaker, a former lifestyle and travel writer, mid-century modernist, passionate traveler, New York Giants fan and Instagram voice of her shih tzu, Harry Carson.