Design is NOT Branding Podcast, Lorraine Carter Guest Interview with Alan Dowling on Inc60

When you hear the wording branding do you think logos, websites and brochures?

The truth is these are merely the visual identifiers of your brand. They’re not actually your brand or brand strategy.

One of the biggest mistakes business leaders, entrepreneurs and organisations typically make is thinking these visual badges are their brand. The next biggest mistake most commonly made is rushing straight into all the ‘fun’ parts of creating the visual aspects of a brand or a marketing campaign while neglecting entirely to do the most important deeper thinking — the work of building your brand strategy.

The fact is, branding strategy is the bedrock foundation underpinning your whole business, NOT marketing or design.

Brand strategy provides the road map for marketing and design so it’s hugely critical to your commercial success — but unfortunately, frequently overlooked or entirely neglected.

Brand strategy unlocks the value of your brand, empowers you to make more informed decisions faster, drives sustainable growth and accelerates employee and customer engagement.

You see, branding strategy, marketing and design are three separate, important disciplines. Each serves a different function and provides different outcomes.

Related: Design Is NOT Branding, 10 Things Every Business Owner and Entrepreneur Should Know

Discover more here, and tune in now because I’m the guest of Alan Dowling on Inc60™, an Irish podcast sharing practical advice for business people to help them build more successful and profitable businesses.

In this podcast we’re discussing the power of building a strong brand strategy and what that entails along with some of the most common and costly mistakes to avoid.