What Separates a Brand from a Logo?

Buzzwords like logo and brand identity are sometimes very hard to comprehend and more often these two terms are used interchangeably. But, in reality these two terms actually mean something different. Quite often, it is observed that a client referring to his/her brand is actually talking about the logo and not the brand. When it comes to changing or altering the brand identity, the modification is not limited to only changing the logo. Strong financing, self-knowledge and time are some of the key requirements required to change a brand.

So What Defines a Brand?

In simple words, brand can be defined as the gut feeling of a person about an organization, service or product. It’s much more than a logo that is present on a business card. The term ‘brand’ helps to define everything about an organization. Brand can be described as the personality of an organization, service or product which is shaped by the audience’s perceptions. It is the feelings and thoughts that a person experiences while thinking about a company. Some of the basic concepts of a brand include:

• Brand is not only about the basic symbols, fonts and colors.
• Branding consists of many things like the work done by an organization, its marketing strategies along with the products and/or services introduced by it and what is conveyed to the world by combining all these things.
• Brand is the perceived image of a company.
• The way products and/or services can be used by customers is also a representation of the brand.
• Brand is a collection of visuals, communications tools as well as a logo.
• Branding isn’t just limited to the corporate world. The concept of brand is also embraced by celebrities. For instance, anyone going for a Brad Pitt movie knows what they’ll get.
• Overall, it can be said that through a brand an image is created in the world of business, in every detail and at every stage.

What Defines a Logo?

A logo also known as brand mark, mark, wordmark, trademark, brand icon, symbol or logotype can be defined as a typographic and/or graphic mark that identifies an organization. It is a crucial element of the brand identity of an organization that helps with recall, differentiation and recognition. A logo is a tangible way of expressing few characteristics and essences of a brand but, in no way it can illustrate or represent everything about a brand. Some of the key aspects of a logo include:

• A logo can be considered as a visual identifier of an organization.
• A good logo represents the character of a company in a suggestive but not literal way.
• It can also be symbolic and not simply a representation of a company’s actual lettering.
• A logo starts to function in an intended manner only after people become familiar with it. It is similar to remembering the name of a person.
• Rebranding isn’t just about changing the logo. There are times when a company requires a change in its packaging and identity, name, price structure, market and products.
• An ideal logo turns out to be a crucial brand asset and helps an organization to differentiate it from its competitors as well as communicate the essence of brand to the audiences.

A logo can be considered as a face of a person that lays the foundation of appearance. People try to visualize the face while thinking of a person. Over the years the face may change but it still remains the core of appearance of a person. While on the other hand, the way a person acts, what he/she says forms the basis of their personality (brand). Ultimately, people judge a person depending on the personality and form the defining factor of a person’s character. The face certainly contributes to the personality but doesn’t have the power to change it. A brand can be considered as an iceberg whereas a logo only forms the tip of the iceberg.