When people say I need a new brand what they are usually referring to, is that they need a new logo or identity package.
In our experience, this has been an error generated by our side of the creative process. There are some big branding firms who in reality only do brand identity design. (They create amazing identity systems, and are super clear how the identity system is going to look when it’s used in marketing).
But they don’t do brand.
Here’s a question. Is your hand a part of your body or do you refer to your hand as you would a human being?… That doesn't make any sense, right? The hand is one of the many parts that make up a human being, the hand is not a human being.
The same goes with a brand.
So that said, a brand is not a logo, it’s part of your identity system.
A brand is not your product or service that people buy.
A brand is the whole experience of your client/customer/consumer. It is what people say about you when you are not there. Or quoting Ze Frank, it’s the “emotional aftertaste”.
A brand has an emotional relationship between the consumer and your product or service. The deeper the emotional relationship with our customers, the more love, and loyalty our brand will receive. Yes, branding makes advocates, even evangelists, out of those who buy.
A brand may persuade a consumer to buy a particular car, and maybe it’s the first car they’ve ever owned, but it is the brand experience they are in contact with that will determine if they will only buy that brand for the rest of their life.
Let’s take the vehicle we purchased as an example; the first one for my husband. He starts telling our friends about our amazing new ride. He’s in love. He speaks of the feeling he has when on the road and presses down on the accelerator. Or the tingling he still feels at that moment due to the insane stereo it has.
He is talking about it from his experience of the product. Note what it is happening right there. He is telling the story about a brand without anyone prompting him. He’s enrolled.
What people say about you, when you are not in the room in a positive and enrolling way. That’s what we call the art of a branding, this is what you want to achieve and this is what you need to look for. Someone that is very good at creating a strong and consistent intention for what you want your brand to be known for.
So remember, once you're out in the world, the brand is what your customers say it is.
That said, how aware are you of the stories being told of your brand?
Do you know what they think about you?
Are you actively connecting with your market to find out?