What Is “Branding” (In Really Simple Terms)?

To make it as simple as possible, your “brand” is basically the vibes you give. It is all of the feelings, thoughts, emotions, and impressions people have connected with you, your company, your products, your services, etc.

Like everything in life, branding has gradient scopes.

For example, if you’re going to start working out for the first time, your exercise routine might be a little bit different than your neighbor who inspired you to go to the gym and who walks 10 miles and bench presses 150lbs twice a week. And it will probably be different than a professional body builder, or an Olympic athlete.

When you’re running your business and working out your marketing messaging and your brand, there are deep dive nuances you can get into (much like the professional body builder), and there are just basic general things you need for your health (a low-key “keep your body moving” exercise plan if you will).

Large companies almost always have this codified with “branding packages” that can outline everything down to how long their employee’s hair is allowed to be. Smaller businesses or individual people might just have specific colors or fonts they use.

Professional branding consultants can review your whole business and put together a package that outlines everything you are and what you do and how to best share that with the world through every point of contact your customers or clients or collaborators have with you.

As a smaller business or even just a person, you don’t have to dive that far into it, but it is good to define your brand at some point as it can serve as a bit of a rock when making marketing or even company policy decisions.

At the end of the day, your brand is what you want people to associate with you, and what you want people to think of when they think of you. In fact, you probably already have a “brand” to some degree or another. It might not be one that was intentionally crafted, and it might vary depending on the people you’re talking to or how they know you or your business. But usually most people have some level of a brand, and it is best to formulate it and define it for yourself.

Knowing the different parts of what a brand is can help.

OVERALL

From a wide scale perspective, what words or concepts or ideas do you want people to have when they see you or your product or your services? What emotions do you want them to have? What actions do you want them to take?

Your messaging can include whatever your tagline is (if you have one), and it can include your brand “voice” or the tonality for interactions which can set the tone for all other marketing and content creation. This can include things like how formal a tone do you take, and the types of words you use in professional settings. Things like if you use emojis in emails with clients or if you keep it super formal. Do you always start with “Hello!” when you begin an email or do you dive into business? Does your workplace allow profanity? What about in front of clients/customers? Are your staff uniformed? Is there a dress code?

What is the environment that you exist in? This goes neatly into the visual side.

VISUAL

Things that people see such as your logo, fonts and colors, packaging for your product (as applicable), even things like the materials you use for packaging, the lighting style in your office, the furniture style in your office, if you keep it super clean, bring in fresh flowers, have a little candy dish or offer people bottles of water - all of those things are part of your visual brand.

Now, you don’t have to dive that far when you’re starting out. Sometimes an office is just an office and you use what furniture was there when you signed the lease agreement. Maybe you can only afford plain white packing paper when you start, and as you grow you can add different colors or prints or something with your logo on it. Maybe your kids color on the packing paper and that’s the visual brand for your packaging.

What do people see in association with you?

EMOTIONAL

The gist for this one is how you make people feel. What are your customer service policies? How do you treat customers and clients? What do you want people to think when then encounter you or your products or services? What feelings do you want people to have when they are associated with you?

This can be how you talk to people, how and when you will answer emails or text messages, if you respond after hours, how you problem solve, how you address emergencies or deal with stressful situations. What emotional experiences do people associate with you and your product or services or business?

Overall, you don’t have to have a Fortune 500 level branding package right out the gate.

But starting with how you want people to feel and what you want them to associate you with when they see you can give you a baseline to use when selecting colors and fonts and styles and all of the different elements that go into you and your business. From there you start getting into art styling and things such as mood lines, and color theory, and all of that, which is when it is best to call in a professional.

But when you’re just starting, knowing what your brand is at a core level can assist you in making choices about things like your logo style or color choices beyond just “I like this color because it’s pretty.” Usually even the colors and styles you chose are ones you’re picking because it makes you feel a way, even if you’re not thinking about it like that when you make the choice. You have hold it as a baseline when making other decisions and ask yourself “does this fit my brand?”

For some people the brand is just “because I like it” and the underlying message is “you don’t have to be cohesive, you just have to be you.” And that can be a brand as well!