Its good to see branding being discussed in these forums.
There's a perception around that branding is somehow extra gloss that should be added to a well considered business model, but that is far from the truth. Your brand is your business: Even if you don't try, you'll end up with a brand. (Just not one that makes you money).
Brands express how you see your company, and they structure every aspect of your communications, and to a large degree, your behaviour.
When you do a formal branding exercise, you are seeking to create an identity that:
1) Is memorable
2) Has marketing "hooks"
3) Is distinct from the competition
4) Is free of constraints (e.g. trademarks, domain ownership, place)
And at
Collective ID we always insist that your brand:
5) Is true to your values, ethos and aspirations (because branding should permeate every aspect of your communications down to how people answer the phone, we believe they're not sustainable if they don't actually represent the people and culture of your company)
Brands begin with clear statements about a company's history (a brand narrative),values, vision and personality.
Values and vision spring from the business model itself and the motivations of company directors, which are by no means always about profit.
We also ask questions like "if your brand was a character in a film, who would it be?" (George Clooney anyone?).
At this stage we're not particularly interested in differentiation in the marketplace (though its at the back of our minds),we're most importantly interested in creating an imagined entity that has been thought through in detail... Its a bit like writing a character in novel: the novelist doesn't include everything about a character in her book, but there will often be pages of notes about everything from how clean they keep their toenails to where they had their first kiss.
Our premise is that if you get involved enough at this stage, you end up with an entity that is extremely individual. We will achieve differentiation in the marketplace, partly because our brand character is sufficiently real to all concerned.
The result of this stage is what we prosaically call "The Brand in Words". It includes the company name, notes on the company's "personality", tone of voice, formulated statements that are both public facing and inward looking (vision, values, mission, history, USP),and keywords that summarise some of this material.
The design phase of the brand is obviously about logos, colours, typography and very often, supporting "furniture" - iconography, page layout and things.
Everything about the brand's visual imagery can then be given two simple tests:
1) Does it represent the "Brand in Words"
2) Is it sufficiently different from the competition
And I'll close what's turned out to be an essay with a note to say what a brand is not.
1) A brand is not selling. It is more like a person from whom people like to buy things.
2) A company name / logo generally does not need to represent the products or services that you're selling (none of the biggest brands you use today do this)
Hope that compliments David's points...