Let’s start by discussing what branding is and why it’s important. Branding is a combination of your businesses values, style, identity, message, and much more. It is the foundation of your business that will help support a lifetime of growth & a strong customer base. Almost everyone identifies branding with “a logo” but a logo is just one piece of brand development.

We all know that this letter mark with or without text means McDonald’s. We also know that this little swoosh symbol means Nike. These marks are used in various ways with consistent style to form a brand image. This is an example of well thought out branding and logo design. 

Let’s face it, almost all iconic logos have a hidden meaning which is why they are so successful. The colors, the typeface, the shape, the message, and any other characteristics were chosen for a reason not just because “it looked cool”. When you look at the swoosh it conveys movement and when you look at the golden color of the M it entices hunger. These are just a few of the many secrets these logos hold.

Now that you have some background on good branding let’s talk about what creates “bad branding” and how it can negatively impact your business. 

Let’s pretend you are a business that blogs about women in the health industry. A logo designed as a girl with pink and gold text might be pretty but it is going to seriously negatively impact your business. This is because the color pink has no relation to the health industry and a girl doesn’t help describe what your business is truly about, except for the fact that it has something to do with females.

When you see pink you think love/romance and when it is paired with a girl you will probably come to the conclusion that their business is about beauty. That means anyone searching for a blog about the health industry is going to gravitate towards all the other sites that use medical symbols paired with the color blue. This also means that the audience you do attract may find it hard to remember your business because the logo is offsetting and not related to the core values of your brand.

As I stated before, a logo is only part of what makes your brand. Just because you have a good logo doesn’t mean you have good branding. For example, you have a rock star logo but it’s being paired with the wrong colors, an incorrect brand message, and being used in all the wrong ways. When you see a medical logo paired with images of “fast food” it is going to send the wrong brand message. There are some cases in which this could work under the right circumstance but that is too much to get into right now. 

I hope this has given you some insight as to why you should invest in branding and why it matters. If you are starting a business this is the key to starting out on the right foot and if you are an already established business, don’t rule out the possibility of re-branding to better suit your businesses core values & services.