Logos & Branding

Branding: It’s Not Just For Cows Anymore

“Brand” used to mean a stamp, a symbol, on a cow’s rump, burned there, permanent. No matter how far on the range a cow wandered, it was clear who owned it and where it came from. These days the concept of brand is most often used to describe the recognizable physical or visual characteristics of a product, such as the logo and perhaps the packaging. But there’s a difference between a logo and a brand.

Is a Logo a Brand?

What cowpokes used to call a brand, we now call a logo. A logo at its most basic is a shortcut, a quick visual way to identify something about the product offered, “a picture worth a thousand words.” (Note: what I refer to as “logo” can be an image or it can be a word mark, the company name in a standard format which becomes the “logo”).

It’s a question of unearthing what exactly are those thousand words that the picture represents. Once you know that, you can get to the brand that is layered behind the logo.

The Accidental Brand

A logo that is consistently used for a long time can, over time, acquire a brand. At the start it’s just a name or symbol. But over time that logo comes to represent the experience customers consistently have each time they use a product or service with that logo on it. It becomes your reputation, your brand.

Many longstanding companies developed their brands this way and have done very well, even becoming synonymous with the product category they represent. Many of the classics fall into this group, such as Coca-Cola, Kleenex, Jello, Band-Aid.  (Case in point, have you noticed how the Band-Aid TV jingle has recently become, “I am stuck on Band-Aid brand, ‘cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me”?)

The Purposeful Brand

Another option, if you don’t want to wait years for the strictly organic approach, is to be proactive and purposeful by choosing the brand your company will have. It begins by deciding what you want your company to stand for, such as specific values or characteristics, then focusing energy on permeating those values or characteristics throughout the company.

As those values and characteristics come alive in the experiences your customers have, your reputation – and your brand – are built. Your business becomes the brand it set out to be.

Take Angie Bricker, owner of The Natural Baby Shop in Kelowna, BC. When she started her first business in 1996, she didn’t know very much about the topic of branding, so she didn’t develop one purposefully. As a result, over time, the store’s brand started to develop as a reflection of the business and what it represented. Although this worked for her, Angie decided to take the exact opposite approach when she opened The Natural Baby Shop three years ago.

“I started from scratch this time and created a brand that embodies everything the business represents, which is raising babies in a healthy, environmentally conscious world through simple, fresh, pure living,” says Angie. “This time I took my personality right out of the equation and focused on having clear focused branding that sends the same message every time.”

The reason for Angie’s complete 180° shift is that she’s planning to franchise. “I needed to have solid branding that can be recreated time and time again, so customers can clearly recognize the business and the values that it represents.”

Of course, there are always some companies that over promise and under deliver, so it’s best to be both realistic about what you want your brand to be, and conscientious about ensuring that you live up to the standards you’ve set.

The Embodied Brand

And finally there are those crazy people who jump into business and do what they love, letting their passion take the lead and adding the brand afterwards. You know, like many entrepreneurs when they first start out.

In this situation, the founder’s personality, unique approach, and signature style are the brand. They embody the brand, own it, breathe it, live it, express it. In fact, it’s more like the brand is rubbing off on the business than the other way around.

Diane Bernard of Sooke, BC is one of those passionate entrepreneurs whose business, Seaflora, a line of seaweed skincare products, developed as a direct result of her values and lifestyle.

“I am a coastal person through and through, so I decided to do something for myself that would allow me to stay near the water. I wanted to start a venture that was unique, wild, and value added for my community” says Diane. “I’m a third generation seaweed person, I’d been exposed to seaweed my entire life and love it very much, but I had never thought of it as a commercial venture. Then one day I was sitting by the ocean and had a big ah-ha moment.”

From there, Diane ventured into harvesting seaweed for food products, and eventually turned the business towards her line of natural skincare products. Now known as The Seaweed Lady, she remains true to the name. An expert on seaweed, she is often called upon for her knowledge, works to protect the ocean, and also offers tours to show people how seaweed is harvested.

“We eat with it, play with it and are truly passionate about this wonderful, healthy, clean, Canadian wild resource,” says Diane. “The business dovetails more and more with the values that I bring into the company.”

The embodied brand is an organic and authentic approach, but it’s also important that a business come to internalize the brand so it doesn’t rely solely on the founder’s presence to ensure customers receive that same experience.

In the end logos and branding is about attracting customers. No matter how your brand comes to be, as long as it is an accurate representation of your business, values and characteristics, it will help you attract the right kind of clients for you.

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Examples provided by Women’s Enterprise Centre. Around the corner and around the province Women’s Enterprise Centre is helping women start, grow, and succeed in business by offering business advisory services, business skills training, business loans,
resources, publications and referrals.

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Quizzical Queries: Naming Your Business

Q: I’m not sure what to name my company. It seems that most people in my industry, copywriting, use their personal name when marketing themselves. Is this the best way to go?

A: No matter what the industry, if you simply want to be a self-employed contractor, using your own name for brand recognition may be enough. But if you want to be a business owner, you’ll want to take a step back and evaluate.

Here’s the difference: as a self-employed contractor, you are the business. As a business owner, you operate a business that does not necessarily rely on you to be there 24/7. The latter gives you an arms length perspective, which offers a lot of perks.

And it’s a subtle but vital shift in how you think about your business.

First, you’ll have to build your brand regardless of what you name it, so the effort is the same to start. If you want a business that can operate even when you do not personally do the work, it’s worth considering the corporate route.

Second, when you are out selling services, it’s much easier to sell the services of an arms length business than pitch your own name all the time. Which is true whether you are a relationship seller or a cold caller. This may not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference in your comfort level with sales.

Third, it’s easier to add and remove services if you operate as a business name rather than “Frank Brown Copywriting.” It’s harder to explain that you do more than copywriting when that’s what your business name says, and that challenge can limit your business growth and flexibility.

Finally, it may seem too early to contemplate, but what about your exit strategy? Do you one day want to sell your business? It’s much easier to sell a corporate entity than unload a business based on your name. That’s because part of the value is in the brand that’s been building over the years. Does the buyer want to be stuck with your name, and do you really want to be personally associated with a company you no longer control?

Evaluating these issues early on helps set the tone for how your business will grow and flourish.

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Brand Evolution…or Not

In discussions about brand, I am often asked, “Do I need to update my brand? And if yes, when is the right time and way to do so?”

Seasoned business owners hesitate because they have become emotionally attached to the logo they have — whether it’s working or not.

Shiny, new entrepreneurs worry about being locked into a brand that won’t reflect them in the future — but they are in a rush to get going.

Correct answer: it’s a balance. Up front, you DO want to take sufficient time and soul searching to ensure your brand is reflective of your business offering and values, but recognize that you and your business may evolve over time. In which case, a new brand may be more appropriate than a mere update.

crayolaDo not enter into this decision lightly, however. Some tweaks are just nasty and worse than a re-brand altogether.

One thing to consider is, you are better off with a tweak if you’ve already invested a lot in the brand and your core business and values haven’t changed.

The Crayola brand case study is an excellent example of how a long-standing company has evolved over time in keeping with the times, while staying true to it’s business and it’s brand, while continuing to build on the equity they’ve invested.

What’s different — the font. What’s the same, the general concept of packaging, name, colours…

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Quizzical Queries: Authentic Brand?

Q: I keep hearing people talk about “authentic brand”, blah, blah, blah. What does that even mean, anyway?

A: Hey, cool it! I’m the cheeky one here…

Seriously, I hear you. It sounds like yet another trendy phrase to add to your next “office jargon bingo” (the game where you score “bingo” by crossing off the cheesy bits of jargon that come out of the VP’s mouth at the quarterly sales meeting).

If you’re feeling cynical about a company’s claims, you may be experiencing an inauthentic brand. But if it’s truthful, real, played out in action, it’s authentic. It’s the real deal, not a label slapped on after the fact to make it look good.

A good example is the “green company” concept, which is often misused. Is the company really green or do they just say they are? Or did they maybe try and fake the brand, say, by adding a line of green products to a portfolio of chemicals…

Think “real deal” when you hear “authentic brand” and use your critical thinking skills to evaluate whether they are living up to their claims.

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