What Is Brand Really?

We’ve heard it million times already… Brand is a promise.
Brand is a feeling. Brand is an expectation.

Amir Kassaei says it’s the sum of all the experiences you have with the company. Marty Neumeier says brand is a customer’s gut feeling about a product, service or a company. With this, I think, he got the closest.

There is this glorification of a Brand like it came down from heaven and is here to lead businesses into the holy land. The question is — is it justifiable?

We went from defining a brand with a name, logo and a slogan, to realizing it’s about commitment, relationship, trust, communication style, design, delivery of quality, being there, telling stories, listening.

The reason why it’s so important is because it is what makes your business human. Brand represents human aspects of a business — its character, its actions, its voice. Brand is about identity, showing what we believe in, what we stand for and where we don’t compromise. It’s about connectedness. A two way street to our audience. Realization that without others there is no us.

But wait. What’s the difference then between Branding and Marketing?

Well, let’s put it like this— Branding is who you really are and how people perceive you, and Marketing is what you do to prove them right or wrong.