Your logo isn't your brand. Sorry.

I've worked with enough businesses to know that when someone says they need branding, there's a reasonable chance what they actually mean is that they don't like their logo anymore.

Which is fair. Sometimes a logo really is the problem.

But sometimes the business has outgrown its original audience. Sometimes its services have changed, its competitors have caught up, or its messaging has become a collection of things different people wrote at different times.

And sometimes the logo is perfectly fine. It's just being asked to do a job it was never designed to do.

What is the difference between a brand and a logo?

A logo is a visual identifier. A brand is the collection of associations, expectations and experiences people have with a business.

Your brand identity is how you express that brand through design, language and other recognisable elements. Brand strategy is the thinking that informs those decisions. They're connected, but they're not interchangeable.

A beautiful logo won't explain why someone should choose your business over another. A sophisticated colour palette won't fix unclear positioning. And an expensive website won't create a compelling offer where one doesn't exist.

We haven't worked out what we're trying to communicate yet, but we're already discussing whether the typography should be serif or sans.

Hannah Grant, Freshmade Creative

Which is why I get nervous when branding projects begin with a Pinterest board.

The expensive part of getting branding wrong

Imagine a business invests in a new visual identity, website, packaging and launch campaign. Everything looks beautiful.

Six months later, the business realises its messaging isn't attracting the right customers. Its pricing doesn't align with how the brand presents itself, and its website is explaining services in a way that makes sense internally but not to the people buying them.

Now the business needs to revisit the copy, restructure the website and potentially reconsider parts of the identity. The problem wasn't necessarily poor design. It was making design decisions before resolving the commercial questions.

I've seen how much easier a project becomes when those questions are answered at the beginning.

• Who are we for?
• What do we want to be known for?
• What do customers actually value?
• What do we offer that competitors don't?
• And perhaps most importantly, what are we deliberately choosing not to be?

Good brand strategy makes the creative process more focused, not less interesting.

What should a brand strategy actually include?

You don't necessarily need a 90-page document filled with diagrams. For many small and growing businesses, the most useful strategy establishes:

• Positioning. Where the business sits in the market and why someone should choose it.
• Audience. Who you're trying to reach, what they need and what influences their decisions.
• Value proposition. What you offer and why it matters.
• Personality and voice. How the business communicates consistently.
• Brand architecture. How different products, services or sub-brands fit together.
• Creative direction. The principles that guide the visual identity and future marketing.

Consistency is useful. Distinctiveness is better.

There's a lot of advice about keeping your branding consistent. And yes, using the same logo, colours and typography across your website, packaging and social media is important.

But consistency alone isn't much of a competitive advantage if everything you're consistently producing looks and sounds like everyone else. A recognisable brand needs something worth recognising.

That might be a distinctive visual system, a particular way of writing, a strong point of view or a customer experience that feels noticeably different. Usually it's a combination.

The best brand identities aren't collections of attractive assets. They're systems that make sense together. Every decision has a reason. Every detail has a role.

When should you invest in brand strategy?

Ideally, before launching a new business or undertaking a significant rebrand. But it's also valuable when your business has grown beyond its original positioning, when marketing feels inconsistent or when customers don't seem to understand what makes you different.

And sometimes the answer is that you don't need a complete rebrand. You need clearer messaging, better positioning or a more considered way of applying the identity you already have. I'd rather find that out before someone pays to redesign everything.

A logo is important. But it's the signature on the work, not the thinking behind it.

Hannah Grant, Freshmade Creative

Frequently asked questions

HG

Written by

Hannah Grant

Founder and director of Freshmade Creative, a Brisbane studio working across brand, marketing and digital.