For a lot of small businesses, brand development starts with the logo. And, most of the time, brand development ends there as well. But, honestly, has a logo ever been held responsible for a company’s success or failure?
Of course, as brand designers, we’d prefer to convince you that a strong logo design is critical to your business’s success, but that’s not the truth. Consider this: would you say, “I would have loved to work with this company, but since they changed their logo, I don’t think they are right for me anymore?” Probably not. The reason for this is that logos, while significant, are only one component of the brand. The logo is part of a bigger brand ecosystem that includes visual elements, words, stories, emotions, all of which contribute to a positive customer experience.
Take a minute to reflect on your day-to-day operations and ask yourself, “What do I want my consumers to feel when they work with me/us? How do I want my company to feel?”
On top of that, you can build the different building blocks of your brand. If you wish to provide a very professional experience yet your visual identity, website, and logo convey anything other than a professional impression, your positioning is incoherent. If your impact is meant to be warm, supportive, and positive, but all of your branding materials come across as dark, cold, and unapproachable, your marketing materials will be as well.
It’s usually a good idea to consider whether what you’re showing is what we actually want to make an impression on our customers.
So, instead of starting with the logo, consider who your customers are, why and what you want to help them with, and, most importantly, how you want your brand to feel emotionally. Then use this as a starting point for all further actions.
(Take a step back from your day-to-day business for a moment and ask yourself this, “What experience do I want my customers to have when they work with me/us? What do I want my business to feel like?”
You can then build the individual building blocks of your brand on that. If you want to deliver a very professional experience, but your visual branding, website and logo deliver anything but a professional impression, then your positioning is not cohesive. If your impact is meant to be warm, supportive and positive, but all of your branding materials come across as dark, cold and unapproachable, then your marketing materials are also not cohesive with your positioning.)
