What the heck is a brand, really?

So we all sorta, kinda know what a brand is...but, like, if we had to teach a class on it right now, we might be at a teeny tiny loss for words.

Like, we know Starbucks and Apple are big brands. And we know that something can be on-brand or off-brand. But what does that actually mean? It’s still somewhat hard to define, right?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone if you’re nodding your head in agreement. The reason brands are so hard to fully grasp is because they aren’t single, physical things.

Brands are made up of a bunch of intangible things like thoughts, associations, and emotions. They’re a collection of what people think of us and what experiences we provide them with. While we can describe “brand” with good one-liners and quotes, the actual definition will always feel a little out of reach by nature.

Some great quotes that explain brand:

“Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” -Jeff Bezos

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” -Seth Godin

“Your personal brand is a promise to your clients…a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability.” -Jason Hartman

See, brand is what we associate Apple with, and what we think of when we hear Kim K’s name. It’s the service we know we’ll get from a Burger King vs. a Chick-fil-A. It’s the reason we pay $6 for a coffee that’s literally worth 50 cents from another place.

So, if people are gonna think of you, talk about you, and invest in your business, wouldn’t you rather purposefully craft the experience you’re providing for them?

Which is where branding comes in. If brand is the “what,” branding is the “how.” Branding is how you tell the story of your brand, how you communicate that internal brand, with your audience and more importantly, your customers.

Every interaction your audience has with you, from your social media content to the emails they receive from your support team, is a form of branding.

Because of this, branding is going to happen whether you’re conscious of it or not. You can be passive about your branding, or you can actively develop a brand strategy to craft intentional branding.

But that’s a whole other beast, and we’ll get into it next week.

For now, think about what your brand means to your audience. And think about whether or not your current brand design accurately reflects what your brand stands for!