Consistent branding versus a logo

Strategic branding & brand identity

3 reasons why your brand needs consistent branding instead of just a logo

01 | Logo versus consistent branding

One reason why consistent branding is important is the fact that one logo often won’t work everywhere. Especially if the primary logo consists of several elements with different font sizes. It is advisable to work with multiple variants. Of course, as a brand designer, we take into account the applicability and legibility of the logo. We look at the ways in which the logo is used by the brand and, among other things, we adjust our design choices accordingly.

All the logo’s that are created are called a logo suite. The logo suite exist of a primary logo and a few alternatives. The alternatives can be a icon or symbol, an extra word mark or an emblem. This all depends on what is needed and uniquely fits the brand.

Obviously you always have exceptions — Apple’ apple symbol for example — but most of the time the brands can get away with it because they spend years building their brand. After Apple introduced their Apple symbol they still used ‘Apple’ in the logo. Later on they switched to just the symbol. maar die kunnen er vaak mee wegkomen omdat ze jarenlang hebben gebouwd aan hun merk. Nadat het symbool werd geïntroduceerd werd er nog gebruik gemaakt van de naam ‘Apple’ in het logo. Later zijn ze pas overgestapt op alleen het symbool. In addition, it also comes back to the simplicity of the design: it is applicable and ultimately recognizable. You only get this effect if you strategically build your brand.

02 | Not just a visual brand identity

A branding system doesn’t just create a consistent visual design. It’s more than that — the strategic choices that are made create a personality. de strategische keuzes die worden gemaakt creëren een persoonlijkheid. Think of the way the brand communicates (tone of voice) or a unique personal style (creative / visual direction). But also: the customer will recognize the brand (brand recognition) because the same elements are used consistently (brand identity and design).

When you have just a logo it will create brand awareness or recognition at most because people recognize the logo. You can add illustrations to illustrate what your brand does but it won’t get you much further than that.

A brand system, on the other hand, ensures that you know HOW you are going to build the brand. Because your brand is much more than just your (visual) branding. It’s your choices to use certain materials, the words that are typical for your brand, colors and typography, photos or videos, and more. The magic of consistent branding lies in the translation to brand touch points. Think about your social media channels, flyers, business card, website — every point of contact that the ideal client comes into contact with from your brand. To make this translation seamless, you need guidelines that are based on strategic choices. You usually don’t get this far if you only have logo developed.

03 | Branding is just the beginning of the process

A logo is not your brand. All the strategic choices we have mentioned above are what makes your brand come together as a consistent force. Strong brands most of us recognize — Apple or Chanel for example — have spent years to (re)build their brand and create a brand experience around it.

It’s the reason why we always tell our clients that after the Strategic Brand Design or Strategic Rebranding the real work starts: (re)building your brand.

Because strategic choices have been made in the brand strategy and a brand identity is based on it, the brand is given guidelines to work with. As a luxury brand, you can be creative within these guidelines to consistently implement the branding for recognizability with the ideal customer.

With just a logo you wouldn’t even come this far. The only thing you’ll have is one visual element. This creates room for personal interpretation and inconsistency. I a world where a lot people are confronted with endless stimuli it’s important to have consistent branding that can gain the attention of the ideal client.