- September 24, 2025
- 9:53 pm
What is Branding?
There is almost nothing more elusive or more disagreed upon than the definition of ‘Branding’.
If you ask anyone in marketing or design what branding means, they will tell you something different.
To understand branding, we have to go back to first principles.
The dictionary defines branding as:
noun: “the action of marking with a branding iron.”
The idea of branding goes back millennia, where owners of cattle would brand their cattle with a distinct symbol or mark so people would associate that cattle with the rightful owner.
If someone ever stumbled across a lost cattle, they would see the brand and know who the cattle belongs to.
If I could boil down the concept of branding to one word, it would be: association
Everything we perceive is in connection and association with something else.
That is just how us humans are wired.
Your brand is the sum total of all mental and emotional associations attached to your business.
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Branding is About Association
All of the most successful brands in the world have chosen to associate themselves with a particular idea, emotion or status.
- Louis Vuitton has built a brand around luxury and status.
- Nike has built a brand around winning.
- Apple has built a brand around innovation.
- McDonald’s has built a brand around convenience and enjoyment.
When someone thinks of your brand, what immediately comes to mind?
Personally when I think of Windows computers, I think of clunky UX.
When I think of Steph Curry, I think of 3-pointers.
When I think of a fireplace, I think of warmth and comfort.
etc. etc.
So.... How Do You Build a Brand?
To create a successful brand, you need to decide who or what you are going to be associated with and start reverse-engineering that into your business.
Here are 3 things you need to consider:
- What do we want to be known for?
- Who or what do we want to be compared to?
- Who or what do we want to be associated with?
Answering these questions honestly may mean you have to make some drastic changes in your business.
If you want to be known for honesty and transparency, every part of your business should be aligned with that.
Even the most seemingly unimportant details.
Use it as a filter to guide all of your business decisions and customers will start to notice.
People can smell BS and inauthenticity a mile away.
There is nothing more refreshing than a brand that preaches what they practice.
And that’s how you build a brand worth it’s salt.
TL;DR
- Branding is association.
- The best brands have engineered positive associations.
- You need to decide what your brand is to be associated with and use that as a filter for all business decisions.
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