We are often asked to explain the difference between a logo and a brand. While the two are often used synonymously, understanding the difference can be helpful for business owners looking to etch out their niche in an ever-growing market.
What is a logo?
When starting out with a new client, we send out a branding questionnaire. This series of questions gets to the feeling or the essence of your business. Once we understand that it is our job to portray that feeling in a logo.
A logo is an icon or graphic element that summarizes your brand. It is the symbol that identifies who you are at a glance. It may or may not contain the business name.
Logos may have different variations and formats but they come down to being an easily identifiable visual component of your brand.
What is a brand?
The actual brand is much larger than just a logo. It’s your culture. It’s the feeling people get when they interact with any piece of your business. It’s made up of colours, sounds, messaging… even the way you approach things.
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller’s good or service from those of other sellers. Wikipedia
Wikipedia’s definition of a brand does not go far enough and really just adds to the confusion the average person has in ciphering between the two.
A fully actualized brand goes deeper than a recognizable look and feel. A successful brand takes root in the collective mind of your customers. Think of the brand as the sensory system that transforms your transactional business into a living, breathing organism, able to connect with the human psyche and elicit real emotions. These emotional cues become a symbolic currency that people trade when they transact with a business. (source)
An Iconic Example of Logo vs. Brand
Consider an iconic brand like Apple. Their logo is the well-known Apple but the brand is so much more than just that logo.
The apple signifies knowledge and the company’s unique approach to design and technology. It’s associated with Apple’s high-quality products and is a marker of the brand’s ethos of simple sophistication.
Their logo is the well-known Apple but the brand is so much more than just that logo.
Mark Vs. Essence
The idea to use Apple came to mind as I sat in my office literally surrounded by their products. Looking at all of the computers there was an immediate sense of familiarity. A brand is conveyed through product aesthetics and design. Just look at these images, an iMac today features design details that were present in the iBook of 1998. The sleekness and the rounded edges carried through the models as they evolved with technology.
Another thing that you’ll notice if you’ve been using Apple computers is the sound it makes on start-up. The Apple “chime” has not changed after all these years and has become synonymous with the brand.
Make an Impression
The brand ultimately is the way that your customer perceives you.
Simplicity. Creativity. Humanity. They call these their three lenses, and, according to Tor Myhren, VP of Marketing Communications at Apple, “If a product is not made up of these things, it’s not Apple”.
Apply this mentality to your business:
When you’re thinking of your brand, you should consider what sort of feeling or takeaway they should have when interacting with your touchpoints.
Your customer service and communication style determine the user experience which plays a big role in branding. Once you figure out what you want those experiences to feel like you will have direction for graphic and product design to support it.
Want more reading about the importance of brand? Click here to read our article on Brand Archetypes.
