Why Your Logo is Not Your Brand

I want to talk about this because people tend to stand behind their logo as their brand. I don’t know how many times people have said, “Oh I don’t need branding, I have a logo. I have a brand.” You don’t have a brand. You don’t have brand clarity. Pardon me for being so bold in calling you out. If this is you, don’t stop reading. Hang in here for a moment, please.

This is the deal. Your brand is not your graphics. It’s not your logo. We believe in very, very strong, powerful visual identity. We build those identities for brands all the time. It’s a very important asset of your brand expression toolkit, but it’s not your brand. Your brand is what you stand for in the hearts, minds, and souls and gut of the target audiences listening. It’s what they perceive your value to be when all is said and done. Boom. Your logo is not that significant, so step out from behind your logo and craft your brand. What I mean by craft … Get aware of what it is you are doing, what it is you … How do you resonate? Do you resonate? If you’re not getting much business, I can tell you, you probably don’t resonate very strongly. If you’re succeeding, then you are resonating and you want to actually go after that and go after the nuances. I encourage you, I urge you, I demand you get clear about what your brand stands for.

Be Clear About Your Brand Personality

What you just saw me do – I demand! – I’m willing to share this part of the brand personality with you because I’m pretty clear about what it is, and I’m also pretty wrestled down with the projection, the polarization, the judgement, the ego has done a lot of the work around my fear around what you’re going to think about what I do. If that is something you want, I ask you to go ahead and get clear about your brand. I invite you, I implore you, so that you can be the most powerful version of yourself, your business, your brand as you can be, so you can make a difference, so you can make the difference you came in to make.

Kerri Konik is a seasoned senior branding executive who has committed her focus and expertise to bringing big agency strategies to business owners and entrepreneurs to achieve next level growth. Kerri is the CEO of her 5th venture, Brandscape Atelier, a women-owned boutique agency specializing in strategic branding for small business. They develop brand strategy, identity, messaging and marketing that ignites emotional connection, increases sales, drives growth and profits, resulting in sustainability and achieving a greater impact in the world.