The difference between brand, identity and logo in corporate speak.

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With so many marketing buzzwords circulating the web, it’s sometimes hard to exactly comprehend some of the terms, especially when it comes to talking about corporate brand, identity and logo. These concepts apply to every business, no matter whether you’re a multi-million dollar corporation or a one-man show working from home.They all mean slightly different things but dance around the same subject. Here’s a little exploration into the differences in these concepts.

CORPORATE BRANDING

Branding can be quite an ambiguous term and is often confused with the logo and the identity. What it actually defines is the emotional relationship between customers and the business. The brand is dictated by the audience and how they see the company and this can be managed by the actions behind the words of the company.

For smaller businesses, one way to deal with the emotional relationship is to distinguish your brand by giving customers 110 per cent when delivering your promises, keeping them happy and confident in the company.

CORPORATE IDENTITY

Sometimes called business identity or organisation identity, corporate identity allows your company to be recognised and distinguished from competitors. This includes your logo and any other visual tool that you’ll use, such as your letterheads, flyers and brochures, your product packaging, your website and perhaps even your employees’ uniforms.

These visual tools usually have graphic guidelines and rules, given in briefs to designers, such as a distinctive colour palette, particular fonts and formats always used as a sort of visual uniform. Amazingly, these things will reflect the company brand and need to be closely linked in style. For example, a children’s nursery might want to use uplifting colours with a fun, childlike typography. If they were to decide on a dark, gothic visual look, this would scare off potential families.

CORPORATE LOGO

The logo is your trademark and reflects your corporate brand and identity. They have become so popular that nowadays they are vital for every business, in an ever-growing competetive market for all industries. People love a good logo so much that there are entire websites and books devoted to looking at them. The most popular ones are memorable, stylish and usually simple but don’t have to explain the company explicitly. For example, you will rarely (if never) see a bank with a picture of cash as its logo or a fast food restaurant with food in its logo.