Is a logo a brand?

In the beginning, brands were created out of necessity: one rancher needed to discern his cow from another man’s stock. In those days, cattle often grazed together on common land and were herded in groups. So the cowboys devised a simple mark to apply to their cattle with a red-hot iron brand. Sometimes it was as simple as an X or an O. The simplicity was key, the mark needed to be read from a distance and yet be different enough from the other man’s design.

And so the modern concept of branding was born. Today, many people believe that a brand is a logo or mark that represents a company.

Or is it?

Let’s look at one of the most recognizeable brands in modern history: IBM. As we all know, IBM stands for International Business Machines. When they started in 1937, IBM made typewriters, adding machines and the like for businesses. As they grew, they began providing computers and software for their business market. They even expanded that market to include personal computers. And so today, we all know IBM as a major player in the computer industry. There’s only one problem—IBM doesn’t make computers anymore. They make chips and servers and software and create business solutions for business.

Now, IBM happens to have a very recognizable mark. A very famous designer named Paul Rand designed it for them in the fifties. The design’s simplicity and distinctiveness is legendary. Quite simply, it works. But now that IBM has shifted their business focus away from business machines to business systems and solutions, should the logo be changed as well?

In a word, no.

You see, the logo is just a logo. What it represents changes over time but the mark can remain constant. It is the meaning that we pour into the brand that is important. And so therefore, a logo is not a brand.

A brand is the relationship between a company and it’s customers. The company provides a product or a service the customer wants or needs—it is within that exchange that the relationship resides. Within that relationship is the personality of the company or brand.

This is why we spend so much time defining a brand at Leopold Ketel & Partners. It is why we do research and take great pains to get to know your brand inside and out. Because what really matters is that your brand is relevant to your customers, your industry, your company and the culture at large. That is what makes a brand.

A logo should be contemporary (or classic) and it should be competently designed. But pay special attention to the meaning that the brand stands for, and how you communicate it. That is where you are likely to make the strongest impact. And when we say impact, what we really mean is results.