Branding is often confused, conflated or used interchangeably with identity, but branding encompasses more than just a company name or logo.
What is Branding?
In essence, branding can be thought of as the process of consistently applying and maintaining the critical components of an identity to all media through which the public or a targeted demographic interacts with your company or organization. In other words, branding is about making sure the identity (i.e., a name, logo, image, etc.) of a company, organization, product, (or in many instances, an individual) is perceived as being the same wherever and whenever it’s encountered.
What does Branding Entail?
One of the first, crucial steps in the branding process is creating and setting guidelines that explicitly define all the components of the branded identity. For instance, in the case of a company name/logo, guidelines will identify any and all colors used in the logo as Pantone colors (in spot and CMYK equivalents) as well as how the logo should appear in black/white or grayscale applications. A minimum size may be defined to govern of where and when a logo may appear in print advertisements or on advertising specialty items like pens, mugs, flash drives, etc. For many branded identities, like restaurants and other retail businesses, guidelines will be set to identify architectural components of the buildings they occupy (or have built to spec), specific colors of wall paint, furniture, lighting fixtures, signage, etc.
Successful branding entails paying attention to detail and performing due diligence to insure the guidelines and rules governing the identity are applied consistently across the board. Maintaining a consistent identity creates trust in the brand by sending the message that the company / organization cares about its image and how it is perceived.
What is Brand Dilution?
As often happens in many companies and organizations where guidelines and rules governing identity have not been defined or set, a phenomenon known as brand dilution can occur. Brand dilution means the identity is weak and has been diluted by having too many variations of its core components. Why does the tagline or motto in this ad differ from the one used in this ad? Is Smedley’s Cars the same company as Smedley’s Autos? They use the same icon/graphic in their logo and the colors are similar, but the names are different. Or, why do they use different typefaces in their company logo? Brand dilution means there is confusion about the company’s real identity, which can lead to feelings of mistrust or a diminution of expectations concerning quality and integrity of the company/organization.
If you have any questions about branding, give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get the most out of your printing project.
