Branding: The north star, not the afterthought.
We often hear the phrase, "A brand is not how it looks, it's how it feels." But let's take it a step further: a brand isn't something you do at the end; it's the very foundation upon which everything else is built.
It's tempting to think of branding as the final touch, the icing on the cake. We perfect our product, fine-tune our services, and then call in the branding agency to craft a logo and a catchy tagline. But this approach misses the mark entirely.
True branding is the North Star that guides every decision, interaction, and touchpoint. It's the vision that shapes product development, the ethos that informs customer service, and the story that fuels marketing campaigns. It's the essence of your company, woven into the very fabric of its being.
Without a clear vision, a defined purpose, and a cohesive strategy, your brand and your business will lack the foundation it needs to thrive. It's about defining your core values, understanding your audience, inside and outside the company, and crafting a compelling story that resonates deeply and emotionally.
This core strategy should lead everything: product development, customer service, retail, brand identity, advertising and campaigning, digital endeavors, and even your HR department.
A unified brand experience isn't born from isolated efforts. It's the product of a shared vision, a collective understanding of what your brand stands for. The product, the customer experience, the visual identity, the advertising - these aren't separate entities, they are facets of a single, cohesive brand.
Consider Apple: everything they do supports the brand, or they don't. When they launch a product, it's a symphony of brand consistency—simple, intuitive, hardware and software in perfect harmony. It feels like magic. At Apple, the brand isn't a department; it's the genesis of everything.
This isn't just an opinion; it's something I've observed closely for the past twenty years of my working life. I've worked on the client side at advertising agencies, branding agencies, and digital agencies... all operating as silos. The product was the brand, no it's the customer experience that will make the biggest impact, no it's the prettiest identity that captures hearts, no way, it's the stickiest advertising that will do it. Never.
It's the overall experience that matters. It's the feeling that everything is connected and not created in silos that creates a unified brand experience. When every touchpoint and interaction reinforces the same core message, the same brand promise, that's when you create a brand that truly resonates, a brand that people connect with, a brand that lasts. A brand that is synonymous with the business itself, a feeling that permeates every interaction.
Branding isn't window dressing; it's the business at its core. It's the invisible thread that ties everything together, creating a brand experience that customers can feel, not just see. It's time to stop treating it as an afterthought and start recognizing it as the driving force behind every successful company.
Thoughts
COPYRIGHT © 2024 JO VAN GRINDERBEEK
BRAND EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT