A guide to branding that’s not written by AI

There are quite a few people who will sit down and tell you what branding is, but not everyone will explain what branding isn’t. This gets even more difficult in the Indian context. The knowledge isn’t limited, it’s just really f*cking confusing, so we’re going to try to make more sense of it.

Let’s get this out of the way: it is not the logo. We’ll explain this with an example.

Picture a man named Mani.

Great. If you’re thinking of someone in their late 20s or early 30s who works in tech, congratulations, that’s what quite a few people think of when they hear the name Mani.

This is what Mani looks like.

Now that you’ve seen his face, that’s what you would call a “logo.” It’s a face that identifies a name, or in your case, an icon or type that identifies a business.

What does he do? → Brand Persona

Now what if we said that Mani is a 23-year-old man who works as a graphic designer as his day job, and on the weekends he is the front man of a metal band? That changes how you view Mani a lot.

This helps you understand that:

Graphic Design = He is going to understand design better.
Metal Band = The style of design we take is pretty clear now.

Who does he hang out with? → Target Audience

Mani hangs out primarily with people in their late 20s. This means his personality needs to cater to being likeable to this audience: a little bit mature, but still youthful in what he says and the way he looks. Late 20s is still Gen Z, so we need to be colourful.

What kind of movies, TV shows and books has he read? → Brand Universe

This starts building the taste and the way the brand feels. Someone who’s been reading and watching high fantasy will speak very differently from someone who hasn’t. This doesn’t have to be just movies, TV shows and books. It could be any media, but it has to be something tangible that you can reference.

How does he speak? → Brand Tone of Voice

Imagine you want to send a mail about a new offer. If your guy speaks like:

A normal corporate employee: “Greetings, we’ve got a special offer this Sunday!”
Harvey Dent: “I’m going to guess you’re not a loser, so you’re probably going to show up on Sunday for the special offer!”
Bangalore Boy: “Offer it seems this Sunday, come off!”
Groot: “I AM GROOT.”

When you put all of this together, congratulations, you’ve finally reached step 1 of creating a brand. Think of it as gathering all the supplies you’ll need to paint a picture: you’ve got your paints, brushes and canvas. The real branding starts only once it’s in execution.

Branding is an action, not a strategy.