Many mistake branding for a mere visual exercise—a fancy logo, a catchy jingle. How quaint. It’s a common misconception, a superficial read of a profound discipline. But if you believe a band-aid can heal a systemic disease, perhaps branding is just a pretty face. However, for those ready to delve into the intricate architecture of enduring influence, the real story begins far deeper than surface aesthetics. What truly underpins a company’s resilience and survival?
The Genesis of “Branding”: From Possession to Promise
To truly grasp the essence of branding, one must peel back the layers of its modern manifestation and journey to its rudimentary origins. The “act of marking” is an ancient human endeavor, rooted in the primordial need for possession and identification. From the branding of livestock, asserting ownership of territory, to the earliest human-made objects and even individuals, this “fire marker” (as “brands” were once literally understood in Anglo theories) has been present since prehistory, fundamentally responding to humanity’s inherent sense of power.
As civilization advanced, so did the complexity of this marking activity…
The medieval era witnessed the “second birth” of the brand with the rise of mercantile societies and early corporate systems. Artisans, in particular, found it imperative to possess a manufacturer’s mark—often typographic or heraldic—to denote origin and, crucially, to defend their market territory against falsification. Please think of the early rice or wheat merchants, marking the sacks in which they delivered their goods. In this nascent form, the brand was primarily a definer of source.
However, the 17th century’s European liberalism, amplified by the industrial revolution of the mid-18th century, ignited the “third birth.” Commercial freedom transformed this marking process into a legal right, giving birth to the modern “registered” brand. As industrialization allowed merchants to transcend local markets, this “registered” mark became the foundational germ of the brand we know today, initially intending merely to link the producer with the product. Yet, brands soon acquired more profound communicative responsibilities. No longer simply defining origin, they gradually allowed consumers to discover their inherent quality and value as offerings proliferated. What began as a pure sign of origin evolved into a powerful visual-linguistic sign, creating a robust brand-product association that ultimately cultivated the loyalty we now observe in the marketplace. This evolution is not confusion; it is simply what brands have always been.
Branding as a Cultural Reflection and Intangible Value Creation
I believe deeply in attraction, and for me, the most potent marketing strategy is branding.
To “sell” gains buyers; to “build value” cultivates loyal adherents. Branding is far more than corporate identity; it is the living reflection of a company’s culture, intrinsically involving every stakeholder: collaborators, managers, clients, suppliers, and indeed, anyone connected to the organization. The “image” a company projects—the very representation a client or user holds of it—is the decisive factor in gaining or losing ground in any market niche.
The discipline of branding, tasked with studying, planning, and refining this image, has unfortunately been diluted by the relentless pursuit of immediate, sales-driven results and, quite lamentably, by its facile confusion with mere graphic design. I observe this phenomenon frequently, comparing the meager offerings online for “corporate branding” at $19.99 with the comprehensive work of significant design and communication studios, priced at $25 K. This disparity speaks volumes about a fundamental misunderstanding.
As Peters observed in the 1980s, a company’s branding begins in the intangibles: its values, credibility, singularity—its unique essence. Organizations began to realize by the close of that decade that merely producing goods or services was insufficient; “something” was shifting consumer behavior. That “something” was the perception of those intangibles, conveyed through product quality or, more profoundly, through the brand’s promise. Product valuation moved beyond sales volume or inherent quality; it became a complex interplay of who, what, how, and when, elevating market segmentation, product positioning, market studies, product graphics, and the launch promise to critical strategic factors.
For me, consistency fuels entrepreneurial progress, but coherence and consciousness are the indispensable components in value creation.
As Costa notes, this mental shift was spurred by the accelerating speed of information. Brands transitioned to a more intangible plane, with business values meticulously conditioned through market studies, positioning, and segmentation to forge the correct link with the intended audience. Ultimately, branding is the designed experience for clients, founded on the intangibles a company wishes to convey, planned in advance to ensure their return. Neumeyer succinctly puts it: “a brand is what it is not… a brand is what it says it is, and that is the result of branding”. Therefore, merely “branding” a product or place misses the fundamental point: branding is the profound image constructed through a well-developed and managed identity.
The Three Pillars of Business Image
The journey from a simple “mark” to a comprehensive “Business Image” involves a clear, hierarchical progression: Logo < Corporate Identity < Business Image (Brand). The “Logo” (brand, in its most basic visual sense) is the core graphical symbol, encapsulating the company’s virtues and values and defining its products’ origin. This is the basic visual unit.
The next layer, “Identidad Corporativa” (Corporate Identity), takes this brand as its central axis, homogenizing its application across all possible communication pieces—from stationery to digital platforms. It’s the physical manifestation of the brand, meticulously coordinated by guidelines typically found in a Corporate Style Manual, ensuring visual continuity and reinforcing corporate values. This discipline emerged from the post-WWII necessity for companies to “dress” with coherence in a competitive market, moving beyond mere point-of-sale competition. Corporate Identity provides the systematic control over the brand’s application.
Finally, the most expansive concept, Business Image, builds upon Brand and Corporate Identity. It is the discipline responsible for “personifying” or humanizing a company, actively influencing how all stakeholders perceive it. According to Balmer and Greyser, it comprises three principal axes: Corporate Design, Corporate Communication (advertising, PR), and Corporate Behavior (internal values, mission). When these three are correctly aligned, a profound “cult” or “love” for the company emerges.
This is where the “audience” truly enters the picture. Modern consumers no longer buy products; they seek an experience, a “show,” an event that makes them feel important and validates the company’s promise. It’s a metamorphosis from brand/product to brand/experience. Business Image, therefore, aims to regulate the company’s behavior from how it presents itself to how it serves the client, grounded in prior studies to inform decisions on brand behavior.
Nike, for instance, cannot “speak, act, or live” in a way that doesn’t reflect an athletic persona, just as Apple cannot stray from being an “innovation addict”.
Branding as a Protocol of Conduct and a Living Entity
Indeed, when understood in its full scope, branding is far more than a visual project; it is a profound “protocol of conduct”. It must address the external audience, the internal one, and even “spectators”. Co-branding and inter-company relationships also fall under this umbrella, resembling the intricate interactions of living organisms in an ecosystem, striving for leadership and relevance.
The profound shift towards the “humanization” of brands, where iconic real people become brands and vice versa, is evident. Brands now “speak,” “relate,” and possess needs like humans. This evolution is so deep that it extends to a “multi-level sign” where a brand reflects company values (cognition), symbolizes the customer (appropriation), and ultimately fosters a lasting “affective relationship”.
Some theories even suggest that biochemistry, particularly the hormone oxytocin, might explain these strong brand-audience bonds, which make us dependent and emotional about brands.
Ultimately, branding for a company must be a discipline that consistently manages all tangible and intangible interactions and relationships among its commercial actors. It must forge a solid, coherent personality that compels its audience to trust it. It is an evolving concept, not a static, dictionary-bound definition.
The Imperative of Professional Design and Strategic Investment
Sadly, the professional activity of Design is often misunderstood by clients, a problem also shared by designers who struggle to articulate its essence. Despite their intrinsic linkage, concepts like Brand, Corporate Identity, and Company Image lack consensus in their definitions and executive boundaries among theorists. However, the most pertinent approach is to view them as an inclusive equation: Logo < Corporate Identity < Business Image.
Minimal or nonexistent investment in Company Image Design renders a business vulnerable to crises, market shifts, or changes in consumer habits precisely because it fails to forge and sustain a strong bond between the client and the micro-enterprise. This lack of investment often leads to stagnation or, worse, a contraction back to a more precarious, less formal state.
My experience, with over 15 years in the field and over 20 recognitions across various areas, has taught me that a business’s “soft” aspects are often the hardest to grasp for those accustomed to purely tangible metrics.
Businesses that understand Design beyond mere graphics and products achieve greater heights, are better prepared, and are truly open to the transformative change that, if ignored, can prove profoundly costly or even fatal.
The core message is clear: customers’ perceived value of a product or service is dramatically enhanced through Business Image Design. It is not merely a cost, but a strategic investment that, as case studies unequivocally demonstrate, correlates directly with increased sales and improved economic balances. To truly “be small and look big” in a competitive market requires not just ambition, but the informed decision to invest in professional design that translates a coherent message and fosters genuine customer preference
