This post kicks off our new series on branding. We’ll be bringing you a bunch of great articles that talk about what exactly a brand is, how you can increase your brand value, and we’ll also take a look at some strong brands out there today and what they’ve done to get there.

Branding is a pretty broad subject matter. But it’s an important topic for all business owners and professionals to become educated about. We’ll break it down for you today and walk through all the important terminology that you’ll need to know.

What is a brand?

Your brand is the personality of your company, and everything about it. It’s what others perceive your company to be. There are tons of lengthy books on the subject, so you know it isn’t one we can fully describe in this post alone. However, to get a good idea of what a brand is, think of a large brand like Coca-cola. What do you think of when you hear Coca-cola? You probably think about their fun advertising, the fact that they’ve been around a long time, and that it’s a widely popular soft drink that many people like. This is their brand, it’s how you perceive the company. Every experience you’ve had with them, every interaction with their customer service, how you feel about their products, this all plays a role.

You can’t make people feel a certain way about your company, but you do have influence over it. Hire great people that give great customer service, create stores that offer an exciting atmosphere, sell a quality product that people will love, create fun advertising that people will remember. All of these experiences are the makings of a great brand.

How does your logo fit in?

A logo is often defined as your brand, although it’s actually just a visual representation of your company. For those that don’t know who you are and don’t have a perception of your company, your logo and marketing materials give them their first impression and something to remember you by. Your logo should capture the essence of the brand you want to portray. As I said before, you can’t make people feel a certain way, but if you want them to think of your company as a fun and lively company then express that in your logo through bright colors, fun typography, and an interesting symbol and that’s what they will expect when they walk into your store.

A logo is often the first piece of your company’s visual identity that is created so that’s why it’s commonly mistaken as your branding. It’s important to define your brand before you set out to create your logo though. Who do you want to reach? What do you want your customers to think of your company? What will your core values be? These are all important questions to think about, because your logo should be representative of all of that.

Use your marketing materials

Your marketing materials are a further visual representation of your brand. Think of business cards, stationary, advertisements, your website, etc. These all need to communicate the brand message clearly and powerfully because they give your customers a visual impression of you, and help to build your brand in their mind.

If you’d like to improve your brand in the eyes of your customers, using your marketing materials is a great idea. McDonald’s has long been perceived as an unhealthy fast food option. But lately they’ve been offering more healthy choices and wanted to turn their negative image around. So they used commercials, print ads, and other marketing materials to promote themselves in a positive light, and show that they can be a healthy food choice. The ads are colorful and clean, and give a nice image of the company. Visual cues for your audience can be very powerful, don’t be afraid to use it to your advantage.

As you can see there is a lot to cover on the subject of branding, but it’s a great topic to learn more about as a business owner. Stay tuned in our branding series to learn more about it, and see other great brands that you can learn from.