Branding and identity: an overview of elements and principles
Branding and identity are terms that are commonly tossed around in even casual conversation nowadays. But what exactly is branding? What can it do? What processes are involved in developing a brand? Do you know what it truly means?
Contrary to popular belief, a brand isn’t simply a name, a logo, or a tagline. At its core, it’s something that is increasingly rare: it’s a promise. Another way of understanding and appreciating what branding is can be found in the credo of the original McCann Erickson agency—“Truth Well Told.”
A strong brand can:
- Create and galvanize a community
- Establish how the marketplace thinks about a company or organization
- Set the stage for the sales process
When building a brand, positioning is a critical first step in the process. An effective positioning statement clearly defines:
- The target audience
- The competitive category
- The most meaningful point of differentiation for your brand
A brand identity is a visual representation of a company’s core values and attributes. It can also serve as a structure for organizing the company’s sub-brands and products.
To learn more about the components and language of branding and identity, check out our “Branding and Identity: An Overview” eBook. You’ll learn about brand equity, more on the art of positioning, different types of brand identity architecture, and more.
