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Branding & Identity -- Talking the Talk and Understanding It

Industry is in love with naming everything and then recklessly beating those terms into the ground. Sometimes we wonder if anyone knows what they're really trying to say or what those terms mean. Terms like "branding," "identity," "positioning statements" and "USP" (unique selling position) are but a few that fill book cover titles and web site philosophy pages.

So the following is our spin on some of the terms you'll come across in this world of branding. Comments or questions? We would love to hear your spin on these definitions. If we publish your comments in our next article we'll send you a cool mousepad that will help us build a little "brand awareness."

There is a clear difference between identity and branding and these concepts are many times used incorrectly. In simplest terms, a company's identity is represented by a mark or a distinctive combination of typography and color in order to make its name more memorable and recognizable. Branding is the process of building an appropriate customer perception of the company or its products through product quality, advertising, and all communication between the company and the customer.

For example, the consistent use of an identity will only build...well, consistency. Branding, on the other hand, adds a message that is carried into every application. Branding is more than applying an identity to products, services, literature, and collateral. The distinction lies in the relationship between the name, the product and the consumer. A brand makes a commitment to deliver something to a consumer. Its value message must be protected, presented consistently, and managed with discipline in order to build a strong brand.

The key is to understand what the company or product stands for. The goal then is to give someone a clear sense of who you are. You have to study your industry and understand what your audience is looking for. Delivering that message consistently will build a strong brand and a strong identity.

Quite simply, branding is the art of positioning your company or product in an appealing way to the most appropriate audience. This is achieved through a clear identity, strategic planning, a focused message and consistent graphics.

A product (or service) brand name or a company name will be made recognizable by its identity. All of us have a name (an identity) that we identify with our signature. Just as our signature is unique, a company has a signature to identify itself. Many companies have a "mark" that symbolizes some aspect of the name. This is known by a number of terms including logo, logomark, brand mark or corporate mark. The logomark alone is rarely enough to identify a company, so the name is sometimes crafted into a "logotype" with distinctive lettering, with or without additional design elements.

The combination of the logomark and logotype (and sometimes more information) forms the complete "signature" of a company. Many companies add a descriptive phrase to their signature that helps define, position or promote the company. Commonly referred to as a "tag line" or "descriptor." This text provides an essential message to the complete signature.

We like to think of the parts in this way:

MARK + LOGOTYPE + DESCRIPTOR = SIGNATURE

Of course, business isn't always so simple. Mergers and acquisitions or sheer growth can shuffle the parts so that it isn't clear which company owns which brand. Multiple products may create brand families. Multiple messages may begin competing with the corporate (parent) message. All of this stimulates a desire for each brand to be new and different.

Controlling this "urge to be different" takes discipline. Management must insist on messaging that supports the corporate vision and positions the individual brand. Graphic standards guidelines work toward this end but rarely are a cure in themselves. Instead we support messaging guidelines that first stress an understanding of the brand message, and second, the graphic guidelines.

A singular message and a consistent visual identity will build stronger brand awareness and mindshare with your audience. We call this approach "SingleVoice Marketing®" because it helps a company speak with one voice throughout its marketing mix. Usually this one message is a company零 USP (unique selling position) and this USP is what makes a product different from the competition and targets what the customer really wants or needs.

Many businesses search for the magic key to successful branding by designing louder messages and campaigns.

What's important to you may not be important to your customer. It's not important what you say to the customer, but rather it's what the customer wants and expects from you. Deliver on that (customer) expectation and make it your one voice message.

				
				

Wehrman & Company, Inc. is a St. Louis marketing communications and
design firm providing marketing campaigns, branding programs, financial
communications and web site design services.

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Wehrman & Company, Inc., St. Louis, MO USA | tel. 314.962.7953 | legal info