Hello, I'm Mervi!
An artist, nerd and business sorcerer, dedicated to make world more beautiful and strange with art, illustrations and logos + to help you figure your sustainable business out.
What is branding
A brand is more than just a logo. It is more than the colours and fonts. It's more than your social media avatar and slogans. I keep talking about branding here on my blog, in my weekly emails and all around my social media feeds. For some of you it seems like an empty and cold marketing buzzword. But, maybe surprisingly, branding is something much more human. So, what is branding, anyway?
Brand is what distinguishes you, your business and your product or service from other people, businesses and products. You can think your brand as a promise of what can be expected. It is the way you, your business and your product looks, feels, sounds, the emotions they raise. It is the name, the logo, the colours and fonts, the wording plus other features which define and differentiate you, your business and your product.
A brand includes all the features you bring to it, but also all the expectations and prejudgements, ideals, values, feelings, thoughts and views other people bring to it. Brand is never static and it cannot be controlled.
Your and your business' history and future vision, and the values form a part of brand. Your competition forms a part of your brand. Your customers form a part of your brand, as well as how your products serves the customers. The emotions you, your business and products evoke form a part of your brand, alongside your personality and personalities of other people working with and for you.
A brand is how you, your business and your products differ from others. The blog posts, advertisement and social media posts are parts of your brand, as well is the choice of where you advertise, where you publish the blog posts and which social media platforms you use to share your message.
As mentioned before, branding is more than creating a logo, defining a colour palette, fonts and other visuals. The visuals are, obviously, a very visible part of a brand. However, they are only one, superficial part of branding.
The (marketing) messages, and where and how the messages are delivered are also branding. The things you do and say are branding. How you conduct your business is branding.
Branding is a way to define and communicate your (business) values, mission, distinguishing features, and give justification for anyone to buy your products. It tells people, such as your customers, your employees and employers, blog readers, fans, followers, competition and others, what to expect from you and your products.
It's everything you do and everything your business does. Branding takes your business from being just a business to being a lifestyle. With branding you can make people more invested in your business and products, and to become fans of everything you do. Branding makes you and your business something almost larger than life. It makes you, your business and things you do more memorable.
Branding is influencing, and influencing is creating movements.
Branding means creating and solidifying a brand. It is not a one-time, limited project. It's a process that goes on through your life and the lifetime of your business.
Branding is communication.
