A TO Z’S OF BRANDING:  

WHY BRANDING IS MUCH MORE THAN A LOGO 

 
 
Table of Contents  
 
1. The Fundamentals of Branding  
a. What is a brand strategy?  
b. Why it matters + the benefits of a strong brand  
 
2. How to Build a Strong Brand: 5 Components of Branding  
a. Storytelling  
i. Customer’s Story  
ii. Your Story  
 
b. Marketing Segments: Target Market vs. Avatar  
 
c. Brand Message 
i. Understanding Copywriting 
ii. Clarity on Business  
iii. Tagline 
v 
d. Brand Identity 
i. Brand Vision 
ii. Brand Mission 
iii. Core Values 
 
e. Visuals  
i. Logo 
ii. Font + Colors  
iii. Brand Imagery  
 
3. Parting Words  
a. Congrats!  
b. Disclaimer  
 
1. The Fundamentals of Branding   
 a. What is a brand?  
 
Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be 
difficult and overwhelming, but don’t get scared! This guide offers a detailed 
step-by-step outline that will give you the confidence and clarity to build the brand of 
your dreams. Before we get into how to brand our venture, it’s important to first have 
a solid understanding of what a brand is and why it is necessary.  
 
Many confuse “having a logo” for an ongoing branding process, but in fact a 
good logo is just an EXTENSION of a defined identity for a venture. ​A brand is the 
personality of a product, service, company, organization or individual; it’s your 
strategy for how you (and your team) will build, shape, and share your brand. ​A 
brand strategy needs nurturing, support, development and continuous care in order 
to thrive and grow, similar to when a child is born.  
 
b. Why it matters?  
 
Each brand is competing for time and attention, today’s scarce resources. to 
break though the message clutter in order to build relationships with their target 
audience. A strong brand is imperative now more than ever! A brand gives customers 
something to believe in, something to stand behind. It helps them understand the 
purpose of the organization or the business. By itself, a brand isn’t a marketing 
strategy but simply the personality and image.  
 
The customer-brand dynamic has evolved from a transactional relationship to 
an emotional relationship based on shared beliefs and principles. According to the 
2017 Cone Communications CSR Study, 87% of consumers stated they would 
purchase a product based on brand values. 
 
For brands to succeed in today’s market, they must skillfully attract and build 
genuine relationships with people in an authentic and transparent way. But if you, as 
a brand, don’t know who you are or how to communicate it, you can’t form those 
relationships. That’s why having a brand strategy matters. 
 
 
 
2. How to Build a Strong Brand: 5 Components of Branding 
 a. Storytelling  
 
Before we start thinking about creating logos, let’s talk about 
storytelling. In the root of any great brand, lies a great story. We are all familiar 
with Apple and their story. Two men dropped out of college and started 
building computers from a garage that turned into the the world’s most popular 
tech company. While the narrative is a bit more descriptive, that is basically the 
gist of it-- but that’s a story! You want to take a second to dig deep and find 
RELEVANT and AUTHENTIC narratives of why you are compelled to to start 
your venture.  
 
We highly recommend focusing on two different points while piecing 
together your story. (a) ​The Customer's’ Story, b ​ y identifying what problem 
made them turn to you in the first place. And (b) ​Your Story​, what ultimately 
inspired you to carry on with your vision? Why are you different than your 
competitors? Or what you found to be lacking in the market that made you 
want to come up with a solution. 
Maybe as you were reading this, ideas started popping into mind; write 
these down! Slowly you can turn these nuggets of ideas into compelling and 
genuine stories your audience will relate to. If the answers didn’t immediately 
come to mind. Let these questions marinate for a bit eventually, everything will 
start flowing. If it doesn’t, maybe now would be a good time to go back to the 
drawing board and do some tweaking.  
 
b. Marketing Segments 
 
Once you have a clarity on your story, let’s get specific on who you 
think will be interested and how to target more of these people for your 
community. There are two different ways you want to go about this.  
  
1. Target Audience 
2. Avatar 
 
Target Audience​ ​is a particular group of people with shared 
characteristics​; for instance ​athletic men, 18-40 years old​. Since it’s impossible 
to reach everyone at once, narrowing your focus to a core audience will help 
you create a strong brand with an effective marketing strategy. And when you 
are ready to market, it will help you craft a messaging strategy that appeals 
 directly to the type of consumers who are more likely to convert into 
customers. Here are some examples of common demographic information you 
can include in your target audience: 
 
Gender  Profession  Income 
Marital status Income Age 
Education level Location Interests  
 
Target marketing is great and necessary; however, we shouldn’t stop 
there. You see, while the ​target market lays out your range of customers​, the 
range is far too broad to create effective marketing strategies around them. 
 You can’t speak to an 18 year old the same way you speak to a 40 year old, 
meaning you can’t really market them at the same way. We actually want to get 
a little bit more specific on the different personas we want our brand to attract.  
 
Here’s where the avatar (​or audience persona)​ comes in. An ​avatar​ ​is a 
representation of your ideal client and has elements of each of your active 
clients​. This means your brand can have a couple or several avatars. 
 
Let’s take Lululemon as an example. They make high priced women’s 
athletic gear. Their target audience is fit women, probably 18–50. However, 
they can’t speak to Naomi who is 18 years old and Marge who is 45 year old 
with the same ad and copy. They don’t look at life the same way.  
 
This is why it is super important for you to create different models of 
exactly who you are targeting. Here are some ways you can define your 
avatar: 
 
1. Design a dossier​: A dossier is a one-page collection of 
information about your avatar that includes its name, picture, 
information, and story. Naming you avatar humanizes the profile. 
2. Demographic traits:​ List out your avatar's demographic traits 
(e.g., age, sex, education level, income level, marital status, 
occupation, religion, and average family size). This area is 
typically easy to define 
3. Psychographic traits:​ These are a little more complicated and 
require a deeper understanding of your customer avatar. They're 
based on values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyle. Examples 
 include: wanting a healthy lifestyle, valuing time with family, using 
Pinterest to do home DIY projects. 
4. Story​: Write one about your customer avatar. Imagine you are 
your avatar and are journaling about the discovery of your 
product or service. What were they thinking before they bought 
your product? How were they feeling? Why were they feeling 
that way? What were they looking for? What were they hoping to 
solve or accomplish? How did they find you or hear about you? 
How did they feel once they purchased your product or service? 
 
This may sound a bit overwhelming, but you don’t HAVE to go the full 
mile if you don’t want to. These are just all things to think about. As long as you 
have a rough idea of your Customer Persona, you’re good! But remember, if 
you have the clarity to tap into their compassion, start seeing things the way 
they see things, then you can start to form your message, your branding, your 
copy, and your overall business around what this person needs and how you 
can best serve them individually-- and THAT my friends, will make the 
difference between an ​okay​ brand and a ​powerful​ brand!  
 
c. Brand Message 
 
Once our story aligns and we know exactly who we are talking to, we 
want to start working on our brand message. ​A brand messaging refers to the 
underlying value conveyed and language used in your content.​ It's what 
makes buyers relate to your brand by inspiring them, persuading them, 
motivating them, and ultimately making them want to buy your product or 
services. So, let’s go over some information to keep in mind when creating 
your brand message.  
 
i. Clarity on Business Goals 
Let me ask you a question… would you start driving somewhere 
without knowing where you were headed? It often happens that we get 
caught up in the logistics of creating a brand or business and we lose 
sight of what we’re actually trying to achieve.  
We get caught up managing the socials, building the website, 
choosing our logo and by the end of the day the last thing we’re 
thinking about is our business strategy. We’re not going to get into 
strategizing for our business in this guide however, it is imperative that 
we are crystal clear about our ​business long and short term goals​.   
This is important so we don’t have to waste precious time going 
back to edit our branding down the road or so we don’t lose time going 
through multiple diversions because we just didn’t know exactly where 
we were going.  
 
ii. Understanding Copywriting 
Copywriting is the art and science of strategically formulating 
and delivering words (whether written or spoken) in a way that aligns 
with your overarching brand message, while making potential and 
existing customers take action.​ ​ ​It is one of the most essential 
elements of effective marketing and the single most important skill you 
should aim to master.  
Like we mentioned earlier, time and attention are today’s scarce 
resources, it is important to understand the concept of writing efficient 
and compelling copy to stand out from the clutter. You want every piece 
of information you communicate to be calculated and designed to serve 
your brand. Different kinds of copywriting can include your brand 
message, social media content, website wording, and so forth.  
 
iii. Tagline 
A tagline is a short, memorable description​ that – hopefully – 
becomes something like a public earworm, getting stuck in people's 
brains like McDonalds’s “I’m loving it.” It is pretty self-explanatory why 
we want to create a tagline for our brand; it is another marketing point 
that can be used to engage and attract more consumers. Below we’ve 
listed 3 tips to make your tagline pop!  
1. Keep it simple​ - If you can't explain to people in three 
to five words what you do, then it will be difficult to 
communicate briefly.  
2. Choose a style that goes with your brand​ - ​Humorous 
taglines present an idea by using sayings and phrases 
that will entertain the audience and create a sense of 
fun. Serious taglines invoke overwhelming emotions; 
spurring the viewer to take action. Inspirational 
taglines make people think more about common 
problems and cause them to seek deeper answers 
 regarding an issue. Choose one that fits your brand’s 
objectives.  
3. Be Specific​ - The broader your tagline is, the more 
often people will forget about your product. The more 
focused it is, the more people will think about your 
product when a specific, real-world scenario happens. 
Then that tagline gets triggered, and they think about 
your product. You have to be specific and 
scenario-driven. 
 
d. Brand Identity  
i. Brand Vision 
Simply, ​a brand vision is a statement or an intention about 
WHERE your company is going.​ Think of it like this… Where do you 
want your company to be in six months? Six years? It’s more of a 
long-term goal that drives all your efforts. For instance: Amazon’s Vision 
is to:  
be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where 
people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy 
online.  
 

When Amazon was founded over 20 years ago, the internet was a rarity 
and many people probably snickered at their vision statement. Yet, they 
used it as their driving goal and led them to where they are today-- a 
site where people can literally buy anything they want.  
   
Something to keep in mind: while brand vision are formulated for 
the long term; your vision should be revised according to the changing 
environment to ensure it is always relevant for the consumers and for 
your company. So remember, the ​vision is where you are headed​.  
 
ii. Brand Mission  
A brand mission a formal summary of the aims and values of a 
company, organization, or individual-- it’s basically WHAT your 
company does. ​It is what you would put on your ABOUT page on your 
website. Here’s an example of a mission statement:  
 
 #CLUBBOSSBABES is a national online community of female 
entrepreneurs and women in business. Our mission is to create a 
movement that inspires, supports, and empowers women to 
build their dreams, grow their brand and connect with other 
like-minded women in community. Through hosting mixers, 
meetups, and workshops, our focus is to help with 
personal/business branding, digital marketing and networking.  
 
When putting together your mission statement, you want to make sure 
you use all the information you’ve gathered thus far to create something 
that truly stands out and is special to your company AND your audience; 
yet, still pieced together in a way that highlights the organization’s value 
and worth. 
 
iii. Brand Values 
Brand values are important, lasting beliefs or ideals shared on 
what truly matters-- think of it like the HOW your company does 
things.​ In a world where people are constantly looking for connections, 
it’s SO important for your business to give customers something that 
they can relate to, that goes beyond a cool logo or an impressive 
website. While these elements of your brand can help to establish 
awareness and affinity among your customers, it’s your brand values 
that nurture deep and meaningful relationships. Values have a major 
influence on a person's behavior and attitude and serve as broad 
guidelines in all situations. You want your audience to have something 
substantial to connect to. Something to stay loyal to. 
When you begin to think about your brand values start with 
what’s important to you. There are a bunch of common business values 
like fairness, innovation and community involvement. But there’s a 
danger to this approach: A lot of things sound “nice” or “noble” when 
we think of them in theory, but the reality is that they are so vague, it 
won’t really stick or have any real significance to your customers. We 
want to be as specific and niche as possible. Think back to your avatars 
or customer personas-- what do you think their personal values are? 
You want to keep in mind that usually people tend to gravitate to others 
whom they share similar values with. Don’t be afraid to stand up for 
something that’s relevant to your brand!  
 
 
e. Visuals 
i. Logo 
Once all our ducks are in line, we can move forward to the 
visuals of our branding process. Creating a logo may look simple but 
don't be fooled into thinking logo design is an easy task. Based on all 
the information you’ve acquired about your brand, choose a logo 
style that fits. Here are the different logo styles:  
a. Abstract: it’s an abstract geometric form that represents 
your business. Think of the strip-y Adidas flower, or the 
Pepsi circle.  
b. Pictorial Marks: Think of Apple’s logo, it’s just an apple. Or 
Twitter’s infamous bird. It’s basically a picture that instantly 
reminds you of the company. For instance, Target’s 
bullseye.  
c. Mascot: Think of Pillsbury Doughboy, or the older man 
from KFC. Sidenote: When a brand includes a mascot in 
their logo, their target audience is usually kids or families.  
d. Wordmark: A wordmark logo is a font-based logo that 
focuses on a business’ name alone. Think Visa, Coca-Cola 
and Google. 
e. Lettermark: A lettermark is a typography-based logo that’s 
comprised of a few letters, usually a company’s initials. 
Think of HBO or NBC.  
 
ii. Font + Colors  
Color is one of the most important decisions a company 
makes when determining its identity. The perception of a color 
varies in different cultures and societies, so make sure you do 
some research on the psychology of color. However, we also 
encourage you to consider stemming away from the norm and 
what is expected, in order to create an image that’s innovative 
and cutting edge. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The same concept applies to fonts. As you can see in the 
example below, fonts are super informative; they convey to the 
readers the different characteristics and styles of a brand. Make 
sure you’re mindful when choosing your fonts.  
 

Glossier ​ VS. ​GLOSSIER 

 
iii. Brand Imagery 
 
It’s highly recommended creating a folder or a document with 
all your brand essentials. That includes: colors, fonts, logos 
(grayscale version, a couple of different sizes, transparent 
backgrounds, etc) and all of your brand verbiage/info.  
It is important to have all the information handy to be able to 
be consistent across the board without any problems. Basically, I’m 
going to put it like this-- the same way you expect your friend to be 
consistent with their personality, you want your brand to be 
consistent with the imagery. If you always use boxes in the 
background or if you have a minimalist look, you want to make sure 
to always keep the same vibe. This way your audience is always 
going to recognize and feel a sense of familiarity and affinity.  
 
4. Parting Words  
 
Congratulations, you have made it through to the end of this guide! 
Remember building a brand takes time, patience, and a little bit of soul searchin’. 
It can be a little overwhelming but if you take it step by step and really enjoy the 
process it can be an incredibly satisfying experience. It’s like your little baby, you 
created it from nothing and nurtured it into a beautiful, fruitful business.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer​: I’ve pulled information from online, reputable resources to compile everything you need to know 
about starting and maintaining a consistent brand.