I've been thinking about branding this past few months and i want to get into an open discussion about it. very long ago, i use to think only good graphics guys can build branding companies but that is'nt the case nowadays. But thats not only what i want to discuss about. Things i want to discuss about are stated thus:

what's branding all about? what must you be into to call your self a branding company? Is branding all about printing and logos? And to those into this field please educate us more about branding.

Hopefully we'll all learn a thing or 2 from one another.

You could start by saying it is a lot more than a good-looking logo. It is about taking a product/company and giving it life and identity.

Branding is the combination of imagery and content. Perception is everything in the business world. We call this the “outside perception” in the advertising business. Everything that comes in contact with a customer, such as brochures, direct mail, web sites, advertisements, presentations, e-mails, signs, exhibits, sales people, etc., help to form an opinion (good or bad) of your company. Your brand begins with your logo - also known as your “mark.”

A successful branding program will be multidimensional emphasizing the total customer experience. It must convince your prospects that you are the only clear-cut choice to fulfill their expectations.

@neo,  there is more to that than printing and logo,  you must be a creative person to builds a company's brand and you must understand what brands is at the first place before you can build a brand you must understand the market and what are the strategy to use since you have alot of competitors out there  Branding is Visuals  you yourself is a brand  take for instance  we have alot of bathing soap out there and a company called you please we need to start a product  in the market  we don't know what to call it  this are the feature

Now you given the feature there after you gats to develop a name that will be easly access by the consumers after that you gats to put a business plan,  what else ?you package your product Every customers out there wants to buy a product that could help them fix there product easily  have it at the back of your mind that you are a problem solver  and you must be familiar with some graphics products  thats where the Art Director comes in,  now you model the product with whatever sofware you know you can work with Remember Brandings is Visuals  you have to work with ART directors Creative Directors  and work with Company's colour if they don't have  you create a good combination for them  it must represent their company you must be familiar with Colour meanings  and more when trying to make them use a particular colour the colour must say what the product is all about

Lets say you slogan is all about integrity you must get a colour that talks about Integrity

You can't just dump colours man 

Abeg e plenty jare

Branding is more than printing and logo designing just like @smartsoft and sojioguns have said it all.

Branding helps to convey the message visually attracting customers to buy product/service immediately as well as company's image or reputation. That is what branding is all about!

Branding is everything about your company that attacts your clients/customers to buy/interested, simple

It is very easy to perceive marketing as branding. THey are totally different. A client trying to sell his product is marketing but branding is a lot more than that. It involves giving the product an identity. It creates a perception in the minds of the consumers.
Let me give you an example:
Toyota and Mercedes both do marketing in similar ways eg gas mileage, power, handling, strength.
But their branding is what makes them different. Toyota creates a perception in the minds of consumers. That is why anybody that wants a practical and reliable car that is cheap to maintain goes for a Toyota. On the other hand, Mercedes creates a perception that says, "Come to me if you want luxury and a new definition to the word driving."

hmmmmm, i think i'll go with "visually attracting customers ". i think some of us are mixing marketing and branding all together. no doubt branding falls under marketing. but i think branding deals with the "identity" of a company. under smartsoft's senario for example, i dont think branding has to do with forming a business plan. it's kind of confusing though or should i say mixed up.

that was a mixed up dude, lol branding is all about visuals just like upsry just said, that solves this question,

i think branding also involves putting in place the values which the company will stand for an top of all the other contributions given earlier.i like the comparison of Toyota and Mercedes.For me the line in between their brands is that Toyota stands for reliability and affordability while Mercedes goes for luxury at a cost.When you think ahead in the game of branding, it makes it even much easier because different classes will be convinced in different ways.

Personally, i think branding cant be seperated from marketing. Now i expantiate, when branding a product, u think of your target audience <the colour, typeface, logo, copy, cliché> all aiming at persuading your market to take ur product as what they have been waiting for. In essence the prices should be considered as you cant package pure water which will sell for 5naira with material of 20naira.

Correct me.

branding shouldn't be mostly art though,

branding is not just graphics or logo oooo! there is more to that.

. . . .and are you aware their is negative and positive branding ?

where can one download books on branding

Swagg my man, i tend to disagree with you. Atleast with my little knowledge of branding its always about bringing to fore, the best innate of a product or service.

I'll take the impression thing. When you see a cadbury vehicle, you know already that this is cadbury. When, in those early days, our parents want us to go buy toothpaste, you are told to go and buy close up or macleans. Not like that was the brand they wanted- those names have taken over the market name and people had forgotten the name is toothpaste. In my concept, that is branding.

, Creativity, originality and innovation.

well the impression thing comes as a result of good marketing of the brand such that it becomes recognisable and distinct in the market. We have pretty much the same experience here in Uganda where cert an brands have dominated the market as a result of good marketing campaigns. Back to branding, you have to think that the niche of a given product is what will differentiate it from other brands.

sojioguns:

It is very easy to perceive marketing as branding. THey are totally different. A client trying to sell his product is marketing but branding is a lot more than that. It involves giving the product an identity. It creates a perception in the minds of the consumers.
Let me give you an example:
Toyota and Mercedes both do marketing in similar ways eg gas mileage, power, handling, strength.
But their branding is what makes them different. Toyota creates a perception in the minds of consumers. That is why anybody that wants a practical and reliable car that is cheap to maintain goes for a Toyota. On the other hand, Mercedes creates a perception that says, "Come to me if you want luxury and a new definition to the word driving."

spot on. and you don't have to be a big name to have a brand. a smaller firm can take advantage of this e.g a skin care products firm can have an identity as "being made on mama's kitchen" which will give the product a home made,fresh ingredients,made to order identity rather than a cold,mass produced skin care product of a bigger company and let's face it who does not like to have attention specifically paid to him/her and will create in the customers mind that you have them specifically in mind when the product was being created.

brading is just a way promoting ur company name

I thought you wanted to join madam rebranding . . . . ?

Branding is the way and how you want consumers to see the company. branding starts from the logo, the way we  communication to people like Newspaper Advert and  P.O.S materials.

We persist in seeing a brand as the external image of the a company, or of a product or service instead, we should learn that branding goes straight to the heart and comes straight from the heart of an enterprise. However have it in mind that effective branding is for more internal than external.

tori man:

Branding is the way and how you want consumers to see the company. branding starts from the logo, the way we  communication to people like Newspaper Advert and  P.O.S materials.

We persist in seeing a brand as the external image of the a company, or of a product or service instead, we should learn that branding goes straight to the heart and comes straight from the heart of an enterprise. However have it in mind that effective branding is for more internal than external.    

GOOD POINT MAN.

u guys have all spoken greatly well, but like to chip these points in, there are three parts to branding

1. the company to be branded
2. the branding firm (the company that will do the branding)
3. the target market

to no. 1, branding means 'my identity', if its a new company, they come to u and say 'give me an identity' and also help me sell me to the market, all these takes place at 'briefing' and every other meetings and blah blah blah,

to no. 2, branding means 'my job', this is what i do, i give people identity, i help to promote their products, which means after the briefing, i go back to my table and come out it what will sooth my client, and so on, u know d rest of the story,

to no. 3, branding means 'product', what is could this, 'what is this product' (which comes after branding), since am the end user, what attracts me to the product, what do i get out of this product and so on,

really, from my own point of view, in one word, (leaving all the whole theory involved), BRANDING IS IDENTITY,

Nice point.

But what happens in a case were the client(1) insists on what the artist(2) knows wont convey the idea effectively to the market(3)

Nice point.

But what happens in a case were the client(1) insists on what the artist(2) knows wont convey the idea effectively to the market(3)

Nice point.

But what happens in a case were the client(1) insists on what the artist(2) knows wont convey the idea effectively to the market(3)

Nice point.

But what happens in a case were the client(1) insists on what the artist(2) knows wont convey the idea effectively to the market(3)

i will like to remind u dt the client(1) and the artist(2) like u used, are both after d same goal, so it takes te artist(2) to convince the client(1) with genuine reason why it should be the way he thinks it should be but their so client who feels d know what is best or they just remain adamant dt dt's what dey want then u should have this basic rule in mind, "the client as d final say", i think u dnt have a choice their, KABISH?

what part does logo colour play in brand identity? i know that diff colours affect pple differently.

May be your question wasnt well organised. But i know that colour and forms make a logo cuz they all aim at summarizing the idea.

logo color place a very major role in brand identity, since logo itself is a major aspect of branding, so in choosing ur logo color(s), d color could ve been specified by d clients or if the client has given u d decision to make, then u should make the right choice of color because in most cases d logo color determines ur total branding color at the end of it all,