What is a brand?
One of the main uses of ProofHQ is brand management. That’s making sure that new design meets the brand guidelines set out by the client.
However, branding is more that just the design of makreting material or a web site. It’s more than “look and feel”.
Chris Wilson at Fresh Peel just posted a great piece on what constitutes branding. See here. He quoted a number of leading lights from marketing with their definition of what a brand is, but I liked his own definition:
A brand is a short-cut that connects the consumer-mind to a product, service or company.
He added “It’s that first, quick, burst of emotion that’s stirred up when a person thinks about a product, service or company.” I like that.
On the same subject, Matthew Stibbe at Bad Language has blogged about the part that great writing plays in branding. See here. To quote:
I believe that writing is a fundamental part of a brand. Finding a corporate voice and using it consistently adds weight and distinctiveness to a brand. Companies that neglect their writing risk short-changing their brand.
I have always believed that a brand is a perception that’s in the mind of your “stakeholders” (I hate that word, but I’m talking about customers, prospective customers, partners, employees and so on). Brand building is what you do to influence that perception. Great brand builders influence greatly, but invisibly.
Chris Wilson says:
I love your last sentence very much. “Great brand builders influence greatly, but invisibly.”
It’s so true. Get your ego out of the way and growth the brand.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:27 pm