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The Importance of Branding and Identity

Written by Oliver Barrett

The Cleveland Institute of Art

Bachelor of Fine Art

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Branding and Identity is a tremendous part of building a business, no matter what the size. Branding includes logos, type, color, catch-phrasing, and more. Many people do not realize the importance of this concept, which is surprising considering that we live in a consumer culture where icons, logos, and brands are everywhere no matter where you go. Branding is an extremely important piece of building a business - it defines everything about the business, creates a connection with the consumer, and can yield very positive results. A good brand can build a company.

In today's world, products and services have become indistinguishable, and competition creates infinite choices; differentiation is imperative to succeed. The average person experiences thousands of marketing messages a day, from the television and its commercials, to billboards, to the labels in the bottles in a medicine cabinet, to cell phones and email; all of these have a brand that is being delivered to the consumer. The better brands will leave a lasting impression and make that person keep coming back to the brand.

Being remembered is one of the key components of branding and identity. A strong brand will stand out in the overcrowded market place. For example, you are driving around downtown and throughout the sea of sport utility vehicles, and cars, you see a big brown truck and immediately you know that it's a UPS truck. This recognition is done without even seeing the logo on the truck. This is proof that branding can include just a color, and the company's message will be delivered to the consumer. UPS also uses the color component of their brand to market the company's catch phrase - “What can Brown do for you?” Brands speak to the mind and heart and a strong brand will leave a lasting impact.

A brand can describe everything about the company in one form. For example, Amazon.com's logo (Amazon.com is the largest internet retail store in the world) is simply the company's name with an underline, however the logo contains a number of symbols that describe the company. The underline starts under the first A and ends at the Z which would symbolize the fact that Amazon.com sells everything from A to Z. The underline also pushes up the bottom of the Z, which makes the underline look like a smile and the bottom of the Z look like a dimple. This playful piece of the logo symbolizes the company's friendliness and its effort to make the company not appear like a cold, faceless, corporate monolith to the consumer.

Branding goes beyond verbal language and can speak to people all over the world on a visual level. A well-developed brand should be applicable to anything, from a letterhead, to a website, to the side of a semi-truck - this makes the brand applicable everywhere, even to non-English speaking countries. FedEx is an example of this because their logo is the company's name, but the form and colors of the FedEx logo make it recognizable all over the world. Many companies do not need the text in their logos to deliver their company's brand. Nike is a strong example, they sell their products all over the world and are immediately recognizable by their “swoosh” logo. Their branding is so strong that their company is recognizable even if their entire logo isn't shown.

Branding is one of the most important pieces of starting a business. It will help develop your company to a higher level because your company will be able to separate itself from other companies. If the business owner can't develop the brand, identity, or logo on his or her own, then the wisest thing to do would be to hire a designer and work closely with that designer to yield the best results. The designer may charge a lot, but it is worth every penny if it helps develop your company into something more. A good brand can build a company.