The best way to distinguish a business from others on the market is finding a way to create a unique appearance. Branding is the crucial part of business strategy because it allows you to communicate with your consumers, to be intimate with them, and create loyalty among them.

However, many startups and small businesses are facing the same dilemma over and over again: what should be a number one concern in the branding process? Where’s the starting point for a good brand strategy?

In this post, we’ll try to give you the answers.

What is branding?

Let’s try to define some basic terms related to branding. The simplest way to establish a branding is that it’s a process of creating a story for your business. That includes not only creating a visual identity, but also the way you represent your company to the public, the way you communicate to your customers, and the values you stand for.

Branding is not something that you do for a day or a year. It’s a dynamic process that requires long-term thinking and planning. Every component of a brand must be analyzed and planned with care to be able to stand the test of time. Of course, flexibility is another key part to brand’s longevity. But let’s tap back into the key terms related to branding.

Brand vs. logo

For most people, a brand is a visual image of a company or a product. In that sense, it isn’t very different from a logo (a graphical manifestation of your brand/company). However, there is a huge difference between a brand and a logo. The logo is a more accurate term that refers to the graphicality of your brand only. The logo is the sign, the trademark people relate to your company’s name or your product. It’s an element you use to identify yourself in the correspondence with other businesses, too.

On the other hand, a brand is more related to the experience. Some great definitions of the name come from the distinguished marketers or our time. The core of these definitions can be read like this: “a brand is something you expect from a particular product or service or company.” Or “a brand is a set of expectations, feeling, impressions, and other intangible things related to a specific product, service or a company.” It has to do with the experience and emotions, not so much with anything particular. The brand is a whole.

Now to the point – what should be your number one concern when creating a branding strategy? Should you deal with the logo first, or should you invest the time in designing a brand?

From our point of view, you need to design a brand first. The logo would naturally fit if you defined the strategy thoroughly.