Throw Out What You Think You Know About Branding
Hi Folks!
If you’ve seen me speak, lecture, or talk about branding for more than 2 minutes you’ve probably heard me talk about all the branding misconceptions out there.
While the following list can all be considered an aspect of branding, it should be noted that they are not the end-all, be-all. Branding is the swiss-army knife of an organization. Multiple uses and an item you never want to leave home (or the boardroom) without.
The issue I see is that too many have an archaic view on branding and want to make it tangible when it isn’t. Sure there are tangible aspects of your brand, but ultimately, and as we discussed in the past, it isn’t what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.
And THEY want a warm fuzzy hug from an organization to feel welcomed and wanted. They don’t just want 1 or 2 great touchpoints and the rest being lackluster. That’s the quickest way to give your competitors the upper hand.
You want to drive your brand to demand and to do so takes strategy and a focus on the whole, not the singular. Like Marcus Aurelius says “what’s good for the hive is good for the bee”.
So let’s break down some of these misconceptions once and for all.
Branding is NOT your logo
Usually, the first thing people think of when they hear the word brand is the ever-popular logo. Instantly you begin thinking of the Nike Swoosh, the Apple apple, or the McDonald’s M.
But there’s so much more to a brand than the logo and if it wasn’t for the core values these logos stand on or the core purpose that propels the business forward every day, they’d be just another weightless design without a home.
While yes, the logo is a way to represent the brand graphically, it is not the end-all of branding elements. In fact, it’s part of a larger design system that when designed with the right mindset (and brief) can create a lasting relationship with the customer.
When working with brands, the logo is typically the last thing we work on, even if they’re coming to me asking me about their logo.
As we unpack the brand we realize that the logo needs to be designed NOT for the CEO or founder of the organization, but for the customers who sustain the organization. (It’s what THEY say it is).
Branding is NOT a product (or service)
Previously we spoke about ways to gain valuable feedback from your audience because they will tell you everything you want to know about your organization, including what products or services to create or enhance. If you listen, guaranteed success.
If you don’t, then you must be leading with the mindset that your products will attract customers and that the whole relationship is built around supply & demand.
It’s not 1950 and customers have too many choices, too many options.
But isn’t it true? Don’t products ultimately determine whether I like a brand or not? Perhaps in the short term, but we’re not looking to build a one-hit-wonder. We’re looking to build a sustainable entity that grows in revenue and relevance. It takes more than a novel product to get there. It takes a groundbreaking brand with an audience obsession.
Branding is NOT your tagline
A tagline is a short, written expression of your brand’s position or promise to the customer. It’s catchy. It’s memorable (hopefully). But not every organization needs or wants a tagline, and some in my circle might even go as far as saying taglines are irrelevant because we live in the age of personalization.
Regardless of what some in my circle might say, I say that YES, taglines are important, but they aren’t so important that I’d focus my brand around it.
Instead, I’d focus on creating true lines and living lines to connect with my audience and build a library of audience resonating terms so as a brand, we can do our best to build a relationship built on trust.
What’s a true-line or living-line? We’ll dive into that in a future post, but for now, think of them as the strongest headlines on your website or as those statements that are impactful to the largest audience.
Branding is NOT your website
A website is your storefront, payment gateway, and to some extent, your HQ. Your website is where your marketing and advertising efforts reinforce the brand’s strategic pyramid and where you send your audience to give them information or to hopefully convert them to a tribe member.
Even Amazon is more than a website these days. The brand now stands for convenience and 1-click shopping, cloud-computing to voice-activated assistance (Hey Alexa…).
If you’re an ecommerce brand, I challenge you to think bigger than your website. Think about ways your website can be a conduit of commerce and culture. If you’re a service-based business, how can your website be a destination that your audience needs to visit daily?
ADVERTISING is NOT Branding
Advertising should be seen as a very targeted way to promote a product or service. Sure, you can run brand awareness campaigns, but more often than not, these awareness campaigns are pulling through a Call to Action for the audience. It’s the soft sale.
I like to look at paid advertising very differently than general marketing activities. Most of the time, an advertising campaign is taking into account very specific goals around revenue and/or product & service lifts. Marketing can be all steps of the funnel while advertising is going in the for sale.
Another way of looking at it is like this: Branding is Strategic. Marketing is tactical.
Branding is NOT your price
Years ago I was consulting with one of those $9.99 gyms. They wanted to shove their pricing down everyone’s throat and had all intentions of forever staying the $9.99 gym. That’s fine and dandy until inflation hits (hello 2022) or when real estate prices skyrocket and your price per square foot goes up. What about salary increases employees are demanding and then the overall economics of your cost per goods going up?
Or how about if the business model pivots slightly because we’re listening to our audience and the list of services expands to a higher-end offering? If you only focused on price branding, you’re going to have a difficult time raising prices and retaining your audience.
If you’re competitive on pricing, then it’s a feature & benefit to your audience. If you’re branding based on price, it might be a recipe for disaster in the future.
Final Thoughts
Is this the holy grail when it comes to misconceptions? No way! In fact, there’s a great argument for each one of these misconceptions and an even greater success story behind them. The point is… branding is about being strategic with investments and having that long-term plan to win.
Taking a huge gamble on one singular marketing touchpoint or one of the misconceptions above is not the definition of being strategic and could put your business at risk.
Then again, stranger things have happened and who knows, that gamble could payout like a crypto coin. 😂
- Steven
PS. Have a question you want to ask? Need additional clarification on why only focusing on these misconceptions could hurt your business?
Hit the reply button or shoot me a Tweet and ask away. It’s part of my mission to respond to every email that comes through.
My Current Reading List
Strategy is your Words by Mark Pollard (I’ve been following Mark and his Sweathead Strategy Community for a while and his newest book is so far a great read)
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene (More of a coffee-table book that should be looked at often as it’s brilliantly written and 100% applicable to today’s culture)