Brand, Branding, Brand Identity - what’s the difference?

I wanted to dig in a little bit and try to explain in a little bit more detail than I can in a tiny Instagram caption, what exactly a brand is.

Now, this is super important because the number one mistake I see new coaches and online service providers making when they think of building up their personal brand, is that they focus on their colours, logo, pretty fonts and basically anything to do with their visual identity.

And whilst visual identity is an important part of your brand, it’s not where you should start.

Your brand is not your logo.

So what exactly is it?

Well, I’m gonna try and explain things super simply here by explaining the difference between three similar terms that are often confused and used interchangeably; brand, branding and brand identity.

YOUR BRAND (1)

Your brand is your promise.

It’s your purpose.

It’s your impact.

It’s the way that you make someone feel.

It’s what your audience come to expect from you.

YOUR BRANDING (2)

Your branding is the way that your brand is delivered to your audience.

It's the WAY that you give your brand meaning.

It’s your story.

It’s your message.

It’s your marketing.

YOUR BRAND IDENTITY (3)

Your brand identity is the visual element of your branding.

It’s your fonts.

It's your logo.

It’s your colour palette.

It’s your design.

Most entrepreneurs start from number 3 and work backwards (brand identity - branding - brand)

However, if you really want to connect to your audience and galvanise them into action (ie. client attraction) then you really need to make sure that you are doing things in the correct order of 1, 2, 3 (brand - branding - visual identity).

Does that clear some things up?