‘Why’ am I?: Branding & Purpose
“A logo is not a brand.” I’m not sure who the first person to say this was but I’ve heard it many times since I started doing brand work with businesses. I’ve also heard the Jeff Bezos quote, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room”. Statements like these give hints about what a brand is but they don’t really define what a brand is, do they? And, ironically, as I embark on branding work with clients one of the first things we jump into is logo design (if they don’t have one). So how do I best explain that a “logo is not a brand” while simultaneously suggesting we start our brand work together by thinking about a logo design? Well, this is one of the many kinds of conundrums that branding work has to offer.
First off, it is true. A logo is indeed NOT a brand. So why then do so many people confuse the two? One theory I have is because true branding work is difficult. It requires time, commitment and even maybe a bit of soul-searching. And most businesses want to think about branding as if it were an assignment with a beginning, middle and end. And the process in creating a logo hits those marks. Easy. But any approach to branding that will have the substance enough to create lasting impact is much more tenuous. Brand work is about purpose and it is an ongoing effort.
Ok, so where then does the logo come in? The logo is the signifier. It is just the mark, yes, but it is the mark that signifies the purpose of the business, product or service. So, while a logo is not a brand, a logo is a signal that let’s us know that the brand is present in some way. Another irony is that a logo can signify when its brand is NOT working properly. Think about Cheetos lip balm or Coors spring water or Harley Davidson perfume. When thinking of these examples you can easily see how a logo functions separately from how a brand functions.
That Jeff Bezos statement gives a better idea of what branding is. But take a minute to consider what it takes to influence people to get them to say what you want them to say about you. And let’s not ignore that fact that there is no shortage of people who have horrible things to say about Jeff Bezos and Amazon. There’s an entire Wikipedia page devoted to years of criticism of Bezos and his Trillion dollar brand.
Ok, so what actually IS a brand then?
A brand is the emotional connection between a business, product or service and its customer. It’s the manner in which people recognize and react. A brand is the business purpose. It does not answer the question “Who am I?” but, rather, “Why am I”? Google’s mission statement sums up their brand nicely in this regard, “…to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.” It succinctly defines Google’s purpose. It answers the question, “Why does Google exist?” And, additionally, this “mission” or “reason for being” allows Google to move beyond some of its branding faux pas (like Google Glass).
Brand work is about working on the purpose of a business. There is definitely overlap between brand work and logo design work but they are not the same. Also, brand work is about working on how you are perceived. But, if done properly a strong brand can survive product failures and poor perceptions. In the end that is what persistence of purpose (aka branding) is all about.