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We talk a lot these days about brand and branding, but do we actually know the difference?

Potentially it’s confusing straight away, as the word ‘brand’ is both a noun and a verb.

But, let’s simplify matters.

Imagine you are a sheep farmer five hundred years ago. You are Farmer Smith. Your sheep are sharing a field with six other farmers. You don’t want to get your sheep mixed up with Farmer Jones’ sheep, because Farmer Jones doesn’t look after his animals as well as you do and yours are worth more at market.

So, you BRAND your sheep.

Literally, with a BRANDING iron. You apply your unique, individual mark to identify your sheep.

The mark on the sheep – the ‘brand mark’ or ‘logo’ that we refer to is not the BRAND. It’s a mark that identifies the sheep as a ‘quality product’ to be trusted because it belongs to Farmer Smith and he’s a reputable farmer. Unlike that Farmer Jones, who isn’t!

Farmer Smith’s reputation is THE BRAND.

‘BRANDING’ is what Farmer Smith does when he stamps his sheep with the iron.

What does this mean to your business?

Don’t think of your logo as your ‘brand’. Your brand mark, yes. But, your brand is so much more than just the logo.

Think of your brand as your reputation.

When the Volkswagen brand suffered due to the emissions scandal, it was nothing to do with the logo. It was all about reputation.

Nowadays, branding is a highly valuable marketing tool, practised by skilled brand designers.

Branding your organisation creatively, distinctively and consistently will help you engage with your customers and inspire pride in your brand.

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help with your branding strategy get in touch at info@libertycomms.com

Nick Ovenden

Nick is a Brand Designer at Liberty Communications.

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