Branding is more than a quick name and logo that you put on a business card before you open up shop.

It’s even more than an excellent, well thought out name, logo and coordinating theme for your business. Branding is a day-by-day approach to the way the world instantly recognises everything your company does and immediately knows where it came from.

Yes, branding starts with name and design scheme. Naming your business is fun and inspiring, but you can’t think of a name now and plan to introduce the branding later. From the first thought of your new venture, the big picture has to be about your brand and how it will be present in all you do. If you’ve already been in business and you’re just now learning about branding, it’s not too late. The following tips can be applied to a new or existing branding campaign.

Do you have a following or does a following exist for your product or service?

Of course you want to stand out and away from even the familiar crowd, but do take advantage of the work that’s already been done by you or others in your industry.

Decide what your brand is

A brand is not just one word or image. A brand is a way of thinking; a way of inspiring that same thought among consumers anytime they are reminded of your company, be it a logo, a commercial or just someone mentioning your services. A well-branded firm is instantly associated with a certain feeling or experience that makes them hard to forget and easy to recall.

For example, let’s say a company wants to be the first choice, the first thought in their field. They create an eye-catching, modern, but not too complex of a logo. Clever logos do not have to be made up of images that have anything to do with the product or service. Look at Pepsi and FedEx. These are the simplest splash of a shape or colour and done! The secret comes after the logo when you saturate the market with your logo, combined with stories and ideas that create the image, the big picture, that is your brand.

Branding includes every aspect of your business

From the obvious like advertising and product packaging, to the tiny details that may otherwise be overlooked. Your brand is built on all of these aspects combined.

• Is the way you and your employees dress accurately portraying your brand?
• Do you speak and perform in a way that inspires people in the same way you hope your brand will?
• Is your office space, meeting rooms or other facility designed to deliver your branding message? This one is tricky. Perhaps customers never visit your actual location or maybe you work from home with a small staff. Even if you’re talking about a nook in your apartment, it’s important to surround yourself and your peers with your brand’s attitude and intention at all times. Customers may never see it, but the brand lives in the morale of you and your people, who then carry it out into the world.

Just remember that you are a consumer

Imagine the companies that you recognise without seeing their logo or hearing a word. Why is that? Think back to before you knew that business or product existed and retrace the steps that