Your "Brand".

I'm not a branding expert. I can be upfront about that. But I do understand a bit about what a "brand" is and how it is a part of your business or charity.

Food for thought:
"We persist in seeing a "brand" as the "external image" of a company, or of a product or service. Instead, we must learn that branding goes straight to the heart (and comes straight from the heart) of an enterprise. Bottom Line: Effective branding is far more internal than external." - Tom Peters Essentials, "Design"

Consider this: Is the Apple brand this:
or this:
I would argue that Steve Jobs is a bigger part of the Apple brand than the logo.

Recently I was talking to a client and I expressed my extreme pleasure at having them as a client. I have dealt with seven out of eight people from this organization separately - and they all were polite, enthusiastic, helpful, creative, knowledgeable and driven. It shows in the work that they do and the relationships they form with their clients and suppliers. I told the client that it's obvious that every single person in their organization not only understands their "brand" but lives and breaths it.

One more example before I get to the point: Old Navy - yes, the singing, dancing commercials with a lot of happy people, young and old - sporting some funky, colourful clothes - and the music always gets the toes tapping. You see the ads in the newspaper and there are bold splashes of colour, great prices, happy people - you walk into the store, great music, colour explosions here and there, happy salespeople eager to help... that's the "Old Navy" brand.

So here is my point. In the last decade, almost every charity I have worked with has climbed aboard the "branding wagon" - for many reasons. My problem is that so many charities don't actually understand what a "brand" is.

Things like your logo, the fonts you use in your materials, colours you use - all of those things - support your brand and identify you to you donor or customer - but they are not your brand. Just a piece of it.

I read recently 'Every time you hum a television commercial jingle, decide to test a new flavor of toothpaste, or pay more than average for a cup of coffee, you, as a consumer, are revealing a relationship with a product or company that today’s savvy companies spend great amounts of time and money to develop. This relationship, measured in emotional investment, is forged by a company or product’s strategic identity — or what’s commonly referred to as its brand.
Every time a stakeholder (a customer, an employee or a client) “touches” your product, workplace or services, he or she engages in a scripted and meaningful part of the overall story of your brand.' (taken from rtkl.com)

And please note: it doesn't say anything about your font.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know.
John