Understanding Branding, Identity & Logo Design

As a leading digital marketing agency in Cyprus, we love seeing our clients excited over branding. In fact, our boardroom has unveiled thousands of shiny new websites, style guides and logos to customers in Cyprus and around the world. But do you know the difference between branding, identity and logo design?  In this article we are going to explain the differences and why each element is so important to the success of your business.

Defining the elements

First, let’s loosely define each element:

Brand = Your corporate image and how others perceive it

Identity = The visual aspects that form part of your overall brand.

Logo = Easily identifies the business via the use of a mark or icon

So, to be clear, a logo is not your brand, your identity is not your logo and your brand is not necessarily what you say it is.

What is Branding?

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos – founder of Amazon.com.

Many people believe a brand is some colours, fonts, a logo and a slogan but it’s far more complicated than that. Here are some more branding elements to consider:

• Social media– how you consistently communicate on your channels
• Content– your TOV (tone of voice) and how your brand sounds
• Your responses– how do you answer emails from clients? How does everyone else in your organisation answer emails from clients?
• Your reputation– what people say about you on social media, forums and review sites
• Your physical presence – how you appear in magazines, television, radio or expos
• Your ethos– eg what do you believe in, charities you support and your community endeavours.

Talk to Convertico Media now about creating and protecting your brand starting with a brand style guide book created by our team. A guide book can be easily shared with your entire organisation, agencies and partners to ensure streamlined and consistent brand communication.

What Is Identity Design?

One major element of your corporate image is your identity. Identity design involves a set of guidelines that make up your identity and show how it should be applied on a variety of mediums. For example:

• Approved colour palettes (major and minor colours)
• Your Logo (The symbol of the entire identity & brand)
• Products & Packaging
• Stationery such as letterheads and envelopes
• Marketing materials like flyers, brochures and books
• Apparel design like tshirts or coats
• Signage perhaps for your building or vehicles
• Other communication methods like audio, touch or smell

We cannot emphasise this enough – get your guidelines created by professional designers. Failure to do this can lead to poor brand identity, confusion and a loss of potential customers later. Speak to Convertico Media about brand identity.

What Is A Logo?

This is the easy one, right? But what is a logo really? It’s simple. A logo is for identification.

A logo not only identifies your company, it creates brand recognition, loyalty and even prompts action. Let’s look at the most famous logos of all time and what they make you think of.

McDonalds- those golden arches have promoted many motorists to take the next exit and order a tasty burger.

Nike – that simple tick says “Just Do It”. It says athletes, sport, trainers and let’s get that lazy butt off the couch and do some exercise.

Walt Disney– that fairytale castle says magic, fun and childhood. Everything the movies and the park itself aims to create.

Talk to Convertico Media about creating an expert logo for you brand.

A logo identifies your company or product via the use of a mark, flag, symbol or signature. Importantly, logos are there to identity, not to explain. So, when clients want all their initials in a logo, their story or something very clever or hidden, they may have missed the point. A logo should be simple, clear and easily identifiable.

Convertico Media are leaders in digital marketing, web design and branding in Cyprus and around the world. Get a no obligation quotation from our team now.