If you ask 100 marketing professionals what a “brand” is, you’ll most likely get 100 different definitions. In large part this is because the marketing field is not an exact science. However, the bedrock truth of marketing and branding is that “it’s all about people.” It doesn’t matter if you use the latest AI tools or direct snail mail, marketing and branding is all about people.
Before we explain what a brand is, it will be most helpful to describe what it is not.
Branding is not a logo:
Falling into this trap is so easy. If you look at logos like the Nike swoosh or the green Starbucks woman it’s understandable to make the assumption that all your company needs is a great logo.
Rather, a logo is simply a vessel. People fill this vessel with the ideas and feelings they have about that company. Often the vessel of the brand (the logo) can get confused with the vessel’s contents (the brand).
Branding is not a promise:
In the song “Love is War” by American Young, they say the very simplistic and poignant truth, “Nobody hangs hard times on the walls.” Meaning, the pictures on someone’s walls only show the good times and definitely do not tell the full story.
Similarly, companies and marketing professionals often think that if they promote the positive “company’s promise” enough, that’s what their brand will become. An issue arises with this because every company says they have the best products, the best customer service, the most competitive pricing, and so on.
Amongst other benefits, a company promise is a valuable internal and external accountability tool, but it’s not a brand.
It’s not solely owned by the company:
(Okay, here’s the last one before with dive in to what a brand IS.)
Marketing professionals in general probably have some deep rooted control issue we need to work through. We thrive off creating a story, controlling the narrative, etcetera. So when creating ones brand, it can be tempting for marketing professionals and potentially their clients to say statements like “this is the brand” or “we’ve rebranded” as though it’s a product.
A company’s brand is an ever-evolving reality not a product that was manufactured.
Branding is…
To quote Marty Neumeier, “A brand is a result. It’s a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company.”
EVERYONE intrinsically knows the answer to the question, “What is branding,” but we get confused when we take off our consumer hats and put on our producer hats. Let’s look a Starbucks for a moment.
Before reading any further, take a minute to ask yourself, “What do you think about Starbucks?”
Undoubtably, some of you started salivating over the thought of pumpkin spice latte in the fall. However, some of you audibly scoffed at the idea of paying $7 for a burnt cup of coffee. Who’s right? What is Starbuck’s brand?
Answer: Regardless of how you view Starbuck’s, you’re are correct.
Take other examples like Gucci bags or Prada heels. For some, those items are must have statements of luxury. For others, they are overpriced commodities that have no real utility.
A customer’s gut feeling is that company’s brand to them. So a company has as many brands as it has customers. The challenge companies face is how to get their target marketing to all have similar positive gut feelings about their company.
Branding is not about putting on the best face and hoping people believe you. Branding is about cultivating a positive internal belief in the minds and hearts of your customers about your company, products, services, or people.