In the last week I’ve heard about a million people use the term “Brand” to beat up on people that aren’t properly protecting the “Brand”. Let’s get one thing straight, a brand isn’t a thing it’s an attitude. Coca-Cola isn’t just the “real thing” it conveys a sense of belonging, tradition, and maybe even ubiquity. Coke will be where you are. It is the safe reliable choice. Coca-Cola’s brand is not the old fashioned script of the logo, it’s the feeling that script evokes. Pepsi’s Logo isn’t it’s brand. The Pepsi brand is the choice of a new generation. It’s young, it’s hip, it’s cool, it’s not Coke. That is the Pepsi brand.
Brands are not defined by a logo, letterhead or typeface. Those may be parts of the branding process but they are not the Brand. If you want to be hip like Pepsi then don’t use a script font like Coke. You don’t protect a brand by adding a trademark notice. All that does is protect your legal rights it doesn’t build your brand.
Seth Godin who has far more experience in this than me puts it much more elegantly than I can so I’ll just quote him here:
The Brand Formula
[Prediction of what to expect] times [emotional power of that expectation].
What I believe Mr. Godin and I are saying is that a brand has emotional power. Without that emotional power all the graphic design, policy manuals and usage rules will just add up to great design but not a great brand. Instead of saying “I’m going to protect our brand” start saying “I’m going to reinforce the emotions our business promises”.