Branding vs Logo: What Every Business Owner Should Know

Branding is all about creating a distinct identity, image, and reputation for your company in the minds of your target audience, prospects, and customers. It’s a broad idea that incorporates values, messaging, visuals, and customer interactions.

On the other hand, a logo is a symbol that represents a brand. It’s actually a part of branding.

Let’s dig deeper and learn everything about branding vs logo.

What is Branding?

To put it simply, a brand is an idea or an image that people have in mind when they think about the products, services, and activities of a company.

Branding is the process of creating that unique identity that separates it from the competition.

Consider Google, a well-known example of successful branding in the tech world. Google focused on branding its products as user-friendly, innovative, reliable, and highly accessible. This branding strategy has now earned them a huge loyal customer base worldwide.

Here are some essential branding elements that you should be familiar with:

Brand identity

Brand identity is the visual elements (such as color, typography, and logo) of your brand that make it unique. In other words, it’s the impression that people have when they interact with the different elements of your brand.

For example, think of how Apple has created its “brand identity” revolving around innovation, simplicity, and premium quality.

Brand messaging

Brand messaging is how you communicate your values, personality, and key messages to your audience.

For example, think of Red Bull with their messaging. Notice how they portray and associate their brand with being adventurous and energetic, through the color (red), and tagline (Red Bull Gives You Wings),

Moreover, they often sponsor sports events, which make their messaging even stronger.

Brand promise

This is a commitment that you make to your customers where you state what they can expect from you. It covers your core values, benefits, or what differentiates you from the competitors.

The more you can deliver on those set expectations, the stronger your brand value gets. Just make sure not to make any empty promises that you cannot deliver.

Color psychology

Color psychology is the study of how colors affect human emotions, perceptions, and behaviors. Businesses strategically use this to evoke specific responses from consumers.

For example, red is associated with passion, energy, and urgency while blue conveys trust, reliability, or calmness.

By understanding the psychological effects of different colors, you can strengthen your brand identity, personality, and messaging.

Logo

A logo is a special symbol or design that represents a brand. It helps people recognize and remember the company. Logos are used on things like signs and websites to show what the company is.

The swoosh symbol of Nike’s logo reflects being energetic, getting things done, and having a positive attitude. They all represent their core values.

Typography

Typography is the style and arrangement of text, including fonts, sizes, spacing, and layout used in logos, advertisements, websites, and packaging.

You will need to use different fonts to bring about different emotions and perceptions, from modern and sleek to traditional and elegant. 

Design consistency

Design consistency involves maintaining uniformity and familiarity with the different visual elements of a brand.

A consistent design like this creates a familiar experience for your consumers; remember, we all like familiarity more than we know.

Brand recognition

It refers to the ability of your consumers to identify and recall your business based on its visuals, including logos, colors, typography, and other elements.

If your audience can recognize your business by seeing its logo or even hearing the name, consider your brand recognition to be successful.

Many confuse brand awareness with brand recognition. Here is an example of how they differ:

Brand awareness is knowing that Coca-Cola is a popular soft drink brand, while brand recognition is recognizing the Coca-Cola logo on a billboard without needing to read the name.

Remember, there can be no brand recognition without being aware of your brand first.

What is a Logo?

As said before, in its simplest terms, a logo is a symbol that represents a brand. It is a part of branding – a unique design made up of colors, shapes, and words. Think of it as a kind of signature for the business. When you see a logo, it reminds you of that enterprise and what they do. 

Types of Logo

1) Monogram/Lettermark

It is when a logo is made of letters, usually with the initials of the name. For example, IBM and HBO are famous companies with long names that use monograms to represent their organizations.

2) Wordmark

Like a lettermark (also called a logotype), it is a logo based on a font that focuses on the business name alone (e.g. Disney or Calvin Klein). Wordmark logos work well with a company that has a short name.

Since the name is the main focus, you’ll want to choose an existing font (or make your own) that matches your business. Fashion brands often use stylish, elegant fonts for a luxurious feel.

3) Mascot

Often bright and fun, sometimes even cartoon-like, this type has a centered character. 

Any mascot is a picture of a persona that is a representative of your brand. They’re like the face of your business. Using a mascot logo lets you create your brand character.

Some of the most famous of mascots include Colonel Sanders from KFC, Kool-Aid Man, and Mr. Peanut.

Mascots are effective for brands that want to establish a friendly environment and vibe, especially for families and kids. Think about the mascots you see at sports events—they help make the atmosphere lively and fun!

4) Pictorial Mark

A pictorial mark icon (also called a logo symbol or brandmark) is based on a graphic. 

Think of the famous logo of Apple, the bullseye of Target, and the bird of Twitter. 

These brands are established to the point that even the symbol alone is recognizable. You cannot use this as a new business.

5) Abstract Mark

An abstract logo mark and a pictorial logo are quite similar. However, Instead of a typical recognizable image (eg., a bird or an apple), it’s a unique geometry that represents your business. 

The benefit is that can convey what your brand does through the symbol. Meaning and emotion can be attached to your brand using shapes and colors.

As an example, think how Nike’s swoosh/tick mark implies freedom and being on the move.

6) Combination Mark

It’s a type of logo made up of both words and pictures. The words can be letters or the brand’s name, and the picture can be a symbol, abstract design, or character.

These elements are arranged together in different ways, like on top of or beside each other. Some famous examples are Burger King, Doritos, and Lacoste.

Combination marks are a good choice because they link the name with the image, which makes them very flexible.

7) Emblem

It is made up of a font in the icon or symbol; like seals, badges, and crests. With a classical appearance, many schools and agencies of the government usually prefer to use this.  

Some companies have updated the traditional emblem style to fit the modern 21st-century era while maintaining a classic look.

Take Starbucks’ iconic mermaid emblem, or Harley-Davidson’s famous crest for example. Both have made changes to their logo to fit the current times.

Since the symbol and the name are often combined, Remember that they might be less adaptable to changes than any other types of logo.

For example, on business cards, very detailed emblems may become so small that they are too difficult to properly read. As a rule of thumb, keep your design uncomplicated that’ll make you look like a classy professional. As a general rule, make sure your design doesn’t get too complex and still maintains a classy professional look.

Branding vs Logo

Think of branding like boosting the identity of a business and how people feel and think about it. It’s the big picture.

On the other hand, a logo is like the business’s special symbol, the face everyone recognizes.

The differences between branding and logos are often misunderstood. They work together to make a business unique. 

Let us dive into the detailed key differences between them:

Purpose

Branding: Think of it as your business’s soul. What drives your business? What are your values? What impact do you want to make? Branding answers these questions, defining your core values and mission. 

It’s the story you tell, the emotions you want to bring, and the promise you make to your audience.

Logo: This is your business’s face, the symbol that becomes instantly recognizable. It’s a visual that your audience should instantly connect to and recognize. 

A good logo is memorable, unique, and reflects the core of your brand identity in a single glance.

Scope

Branding: Imagine the entire customer journey. It’s not just your products or services; it’s the website, the customer service, the marketing campaigns, and the overall experience you create. 

Branding covers everything from what your company represents, its corporate culture to its social media presence. It paints a mental picture in the minds of the audiences.

Logo: It’s like your company’s signature, small but powerful. It shows up on business cards, ads, and online, making your brand recognizable wherever it’s seen. Even though it’s small, a good logo keeps making a big impression every time.

Components

Branding: Your brand is your powerful identity toolbox. This holds the essentials to build a connection with your audience. First, you define your values and mission, the guiding lights for your decisions and actions. 

You identify the audience you want to resonate with. Then, you develop your brand voice, the unique tone and personality that shines through in your communication. 

Through engaging brand messaging, you tell your story and bring up emotions that connect with your audience. 

Finally, you craft a visual identity using colors, fonts, and designs that represent your brand essence.

With all these tools working together, your branding will be memorable, meaningful, and impactful.

Logo: While the logo stands as your company’s recognizable face, it’s more than just a picture. It’s your visual language, built with carefully chosen elements. 

At its core lies the symbol or iconography, a meaningful image that captures your brand.

Typography becomes important, like the voice of your brand, which speaks through its style and shows what your brand is like.

Then there are the colors you pick. They’re very important too, making people feel certain ways and reminding them of certain things that matter to your business image.

All these things work together to make a strong visual picture that people instantly get and that makes your brand solid.

Flexibility

Branding: As markets evolve and customer needs change, so should your branding. New technologies, trends, and growing competition demand your brand to remain relevant and adaptable. 

Branding is dynamic, and should always evolve and adjust while staying true to its core values.

Logo: A good logo needs to be easy to recognize, but it also has to be able to change to fit different places and uses. 

Think about how it looks on websites, social media, or other places where you’ll want to show it. It should still look good and have the same effect, no matter where it’s shown or how big it is.

Change

Branding: Just as your business learns and grows, your strategies should adapt and improve over time. 

When you make changes to your branding, it’s important to have a plan and a reason behind it. This helps your business stay relevant and keep connecting with your changing audience.

Logo: You may want to change your logo too much, sometimes it’s okay to make small updates to keep up with new design trends. 

Just make sure you don’t overdo it. It should still feel like your brand, no matter what.

Branding vs Logo: Are There Any Similarities?

Both help with brand recognition 

A well-designed logo along with consistency in branding, helps your audiences to identify and remember your company. 

Consider the golden arches of McDonald’s. Even without the brand name, McDonald’s successful consistent branding and its iconic logo help the company easily get recognized worldwide.

Both want to make you feel emotions

All businesses aim to connect with their audiences on an emotional level. They covey their messages through color schemes, typography, imagery, and messaging. 

Consider Coca-Cola, they want you to associate their brand with a feeling of happiness (through their “Open Happiness” slogan and festive images) and with a feeling of energy (through the vibrant red color scheme in their logo).

Both share a story about the company

Branding and logos have the power to communicate their stories and their values. 

Look at the Disney logo and how the castle and the font style remind you of good times, giving you a sense of something magical and wonderful. With their branding slogan “Where Dreams Come True,” they tell the story of what their brand represents (e.g. magic, wonder, adventure, entertainment).

Both reflect what the brand wants to say

A picture can tell you a thousand words and combined with effective branding, companies can tell you so much about themselves without saying much and without you even realizing.

We all know how the tech-giant Apple brands itself around the concepts of minimalism, simplicity, innovation, and quality. Apple’s branding strategy along with its logo design, reflects the brand’s commitment to delivering top-notch products that resemble elegance and make you “Think different”.

Both want to build relationships with the audience

Companies want to make you feel like they have built a relationship with you as an audience. By staying consistent in their brand messaging and visual content like their logo, they are successfully able to create their brand identity which resonates with the audience and builds relationships and trust between them.

Amazon features a very simple logo but along with its consistent brand messaging of customer personalized service, it has built a relationship and trust with millions of users worldwide. The arrow in their logo represents a smile and Amazon has everything from “a” to “z.