Editor’s Note: Some links in this article may be affiliate links. Full disclosure is located at the end of the article.

Do you get caught in the branding trap that many creative businesses find themselves falling into? The one where you get so wrapped up in the physical assets of your brand that you forget about what branding actually is?

Your logo? Not your brand. Your website colours? Not your brand. Nope, they’re really not - they're physical assets of your brand.

So if your logo isn’t your brand, what is? Melissa and Heather Travis dive into the less obvious (but extremely critical) aspects of branding from telling your story, to creating a mission statement and even choosing who your business works with and how you treat your contractors and employees!

This is a great episode for those creative business owners who are struggling with the deeper aspects of their branding or new business owners who are not even sure where to begin with their branding (hot hint: it's not your logo!)

If you just want the links to the resources mentioned in this episode, scroll down to the bottom.

Listen To the Episode

Here’s a direct link to Episode 61 . You can also listen via the player below or on your favourite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more). Just search for And She Looked Up!

what is Your Brand if it’s not your logo?

In this episode we talk about:

all the different touchpoints in your business that make up your brand and why each of them is so critical to telling the story of your brand and business
brand cohesivness
the story of your brand
the obvious touchpoints of your brand
the less obvious (but often the most critical) aspects of your brand

What Is Branding?

Your brand is not, unfortunately, what you say it is. It’s what your customers say it is. And that is often a big disconnect for many businesses. You may think your brand is calm and soothing and peaceful but if your customer has a bad experience with your business, they may think it’s anything but calm and soothing.

Your customer does not talk about what your logo looks like when asked to describe your brand or business. Instead, they’ll talk about the feelings they get when they use your products, interact with your team, or use your website.

Your brand is the soul of your business. In some cases your brand may be you - particularly if you’re an artist or a creative service provider like a photographer or designer. In some cases your brand is more than you.

You need to have a very clear idea, internally, about the message you want to send out to the world about what you and your business do and why you do it. And that can take a lot of thought and time and it’s something that will grow and evolve as your business grows and evolves. Your logo, while visually important, is just one small piece of that overall message.

The Obvious Touch Points of Your Brand

The obvious touch points of your brand are the things the people often confuse with branding. But in most cases they’re not your brand. In most cases they are the visual and physical assets of your brand. And those two things are different.

The physical assets of your brand are tools that you use to visually communicate to your potential customer or client who you are. They’re the first impression. The tools you use to consistently ensure you’re in your customers mind. The tools you use to reinforce your overall brand day in and day out over and over again.

Yes, they are very important and they will work very hard for you but, before you create those visual pieces you need to have some clarity as to who you are and what the story of your brand is.

Here’s a list of some of the physical assets of your brand:

logo - it doesn’t need to be pretty. It does need to be instantly recognizable and it needs to be easily recognizable from a distance. Can a person recognize it from across the street or spot it on a store shelf 50 feet away? Can they spot it on a sponsorship banner or across a trade show hall or at a crowded craft market? You can spot the McDonalds M from miles away on a highway. Make sure your logo is clear and looks good in black and white. And does it communicate what your business is about. Logos are more complicated than you think they are! (hot hint - you don’t need a logo when you start out. You can use a simple font based logo until you figure out your messaging and your brand)
brand palette - this is the colour scheme for your brand. It should reflect the overall feeling of your brand. It’s also important to note the different colours signify different feelings and emotions and, even more critically, if you want to be an international brand, different colours can mean different things in different cultures!
your social media profiles - these should be visually consistent across all platforms. Your bios need to be consistent. Headshots should be consistent. Consistency is a huge part of branding
packaging - this is the packaging your product comes in whether somebody buys it from a store or directly from you. Again, it needs to be visually consistent. All your products should look like they came from the same place and if they were all sitting together on a shelf (even if it’s a shelf in your studio) or in a display case, they look like they all go together: same labels, same boxes, same fonts, logos, lids, containers, backing cards)
shipping and packing supplies - these are your tissue paper, your poly mailers, shipping boxes, ribbon, washi tape etc. Again they should be consistent.
other printed materials - brochures, business cards, letterhead and stationery, flyers, etc should all reflect the visual assets of your branding and be consistent.
where people buy from you - this is where all your visual touch points come together. Whether it’s your website, your studio, your Etsy shop, your bricks and mortar store, your craft fair booth - all of them should have your logo, your brand palette and fonts, fixtures the reflect your visual branding. The service and experiece that people receive wherever they buy from you also reflects your brand. A badly designed website that’s frustrating to navigate or a poorly thought out display on your craft fair table can reflect poorly on your brand.

The key with all the physical and visual assets of your brand is that they are consistent - wherever people experience them. Whether it’s a billboard in Times Square or a personalized thank you card that goes out in your order - consistency over and over and over again is crucial to reinforcing your brand message.

people remember how.png — people remember

how you make them feel

The Less Obvious (But Critical) Touch Points For Your Brand

Knowing what your brand is and what it isn’t are critical for you as the business owner (and can actually make it easier to make decisions in every aspect of your brand and even make it easier to put systems in place!)

your brand story - humans thrive on story and your brand story is the core of what your business is. People need to connect with you and what your business does. It’s who you are, what you do, why you do it, how you do it and it needs to be clearly and consistently communicated over and over again. Your brand story needs to reflect your brands values which are at the core of your business. Tell your story - make sure your website and all your assets reflect and tell your story.
how you interact online and offline and in your local community (particularly if you are the face of your brand) - if your brand has a sunny, light, carefree disposition and you show up in real life or online as grouchy, argumentative or moody, you are not doing your brand any favours. What will people remember? They’ll remember how you were snarky with them at the grocery store or bit their head off in your neighbourhood facebook group. Not how sunshine-y your art prints are! Remember - your brand is what your customers say it is!
mission statement - a mission statement is a document (often internal and not public) that clearly states in a couple of sentences what your business does. It’s something you can share with people who work with and for your business and it helps you stay focused on what you are - and what you are not. It will (and should) evolve as your business evolves. This is a very helpful decision making tool for you and anyone who touches your business internally.
who you choose to work with - this includes to the suppliers that you choose to purchase from, the people (contractors, employees) that you choose to hire, and the people or businesses you choose to collaborate with. Who you choose to work with speaks volumes about your brand. Choose a person or a business whose values don’t align the values you say you have and you are opening yourself up to loosing trust and credibility with your customers and clients. The flip side is if you choose people and businesses whose values do align with your brand’s values and you can reinforce your brand story. Your values can change and evolve with your business - that’s totally ok. Just make sure you communicate your journey.
how you treat the people who work for you and with you - what goes on behind the scenes in your business has a way of getting discovered for better or worse. If you don’t value your employees or treat your vendors or suppliers with courtesy and respect, it will get talked about. If you say you support diversity or that empowering your team is core to your customer service or that you believe people should earn a living wage but you don’t actually do any of those things, you’re not being true to your brand’s values. How you treat and value those who depend on you for a paycheque or as a customer goes a long way to reinforcing your brand. Treat your team members badly and they won’t be motivated to do their best for your brand and your business.
your communication - your emails, social media posts, press releases, zoom calls, phone calls, coffee dates are all opportunities to reinforce your brand and your brand story. If your art is happy, bright and bold and your emails are grouchy, moody and sharp the two don’t jive. If your brand is calm and soothing and your social media posts are chaotic and full of exclamation points, they don’t mesh.
your business’ systems (and you should have systems!) - all your systems that touch customers, employees and suppliers should reflect your brand story. This includes the client onboarding process, how returns are processed, how complaints are handled - all these things can reinforce your brand or sabotage it. If you brand yourself as a high end wedding photographer your onboarding process for a new client needs to completely support how you’ve positioned the service you offer. This is the same with hiring employees
community involvement and giving back - are you doing either or both of these things? And do the ways in which you get involved with your community or how you give back reflect your brand? If you are constantly asking your customers to support local handmade businesses, do you support the local, handmade businesses in your community? If you your brand is eco-conscious do the charities you support align with that?

Remember that branding is about tell your story and being consistent and persistent with telling and demonstrating that story. Consistency is so key to branding - at all points in your business.

Mentioned In This Episode

Leigh Ellexson on YouTube (sustainable packaging)
Heather Travis on Instagram
Heather Travis Art
Melissa Hartfiel's illustration Instagram
Fine Lime Designs (Melissa's website)

This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for the site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. This site is also a Canva affiliate.