Welcome to BRAND:NEW. I’m Donovan, a creative head and brand champion.
I’ve spent 30 years designing brands across three continents, more industries than I can list, and enough client meetings to fill a book. Actually, I did fill a book, and that book is the basis for this podcast.
So here’s the plan. Over the next few months, we’re going to work through a long list of brand-related questions that business owners actually ask. Questions about logos, brand manuals, brand colors, typography, photography, websites, packaging, and even the humble business card.
No jargon or design school theory, no hours of your life that you’ll never get: just five to ten minutes, a question or two, and some straight answers.
We’re actually going to start with one that nobody wants to ask out loud.
What even is branding? And I know what you’re thinking, “That’s a dumb question.” No, don’t dismiss it just yet. A surprising number of business owners toss around the words brand and branding as they’re interchangeable, like the same thing with a different hat, but they’re not. There is a big difference, and that’s something you might wanna hold onto because everything else we talk about on this show revolves around it.
So let’s talk about branding versus a brand. Branding is the work. It’s the process, the strategic, deliberate act of shaping how people see your business through your identity, your messaging, your design, every interaction, every touch point. It’s your mark, your color, your typeface, your voice, all built with purpose, nothing left to chance.
Your brand is the result. It’s that feeling, the perception, the sum of every impression customers have formed about your business, good or bad. It’s your reputation made visible. It’s your promise made tangible.
The difference between branding and a brand is that one is the process, the other is the outcome, and you don’t get a great outcome without a deliberate process. Nobody accidentally builds a great brand the way nobody accidentally builds a great bridge.
Let me give you an example, because I could talk about theory all day long and you still wouldn’t care. Picture this: two coffee shops, on the same street, with the same rent and the same coffee supplier. On taste alone, you couldn’t pick a winner between the two, but one of them’s got a logo that someone’s cousin knocked out in an afternoon. They have inconsistent, poorly chosen colors, a sign that’s a different shade of green to the cup, which again is a different shade, but green to the website, and the website doesn’t load on a mobile phone.
The other one, every touch point lines up, the cup, the sign, the barista’s apron, the website, the logo, even the way the person behind the counter talks to you. It’s a symphony in sync. Now, two shops, same coffee. Which one are you gonna recommend to your friends?
Which one are you willing to pay 50 cents more for a cup of coffee without even realizing that you’re doing it? That’s not magic. That’s branding, the deliberate process of creating a brand, the outcome, the feeling, the reason you pick one over the other without really knowing why.
There’s that word again, feelings. We’ll be using that word a lot because it’s an important barometer of a brand’s health. The coffee shop with the mismatched logo isn’t failing because its coffee is worse. It’s failing because nobody trusts what they can’t quite make sense of.
One shop sells coffee. The other one is a bat that can be trusted. Confusion is expensive. It costs you customers who never tell you why they left.
Branding is the engine of this podcast and the book that it came from. It’s 150 questions business owners actually ask. Questions like, “Do I really need a professionally designed logo?” All the way to, “Can publishing a book actually grow my business?”
Relevant questions, straight answers. Some of the questions we cover get fast, sharp answers that get you moving, but some of the answers are gonna be a little bit longer. I have more than 30 years in this industry, and all the scars to prove it, so some of the lessons only land when they come with a bit of a story attached.
Whether you’re building a brand from nothing, refreshing something that’s gone a bit stale, or getting a business ready to sell, think of this show as the field guide to building your own incredible brand.
To quote the great David Ogilvy, the father of advertising, “Any fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith, and perseverance to build a brand.” I’m here to help you build that brand.
In the next episode (Episode #2), I’ll go over a question that I get asked a lot. “Is my logo my brand?” Plus, we’ll break down the difference between branding, marketing, and advertising.
And that’s it for this episode of Brand New. Thank you for spending a few minutes with me. I know that your time is valuable. I do not take it for granted. If this show saves you from a bad design decision, or makes you think differently about your business for five minutes, do me a favor: share it with another business owner who needs to hear it, and hit subscribe so you don’t miss out on the next one.
I’m Donovan. This has been Brand New. See you in the next episode. It’s BRAND: NEW.
WHAT EVEN IS BRANDING?
Here’s a question nobody wants to ask out loud: What is branding?
I know what you’re thinking — that’s a dumb question. Don’t dismiss it just yet. A surprising number of business owners toss around the words “brand” and “branding” like they’re interchangeable. The same thing with a different hat. They’re not. There’s a real difference here, and it’s worth holding onto, because everything else about building a business identity revolves around it.
Nobody accidentally builds a great brand — the same way nobody accidentally builds a great bridge.
BRANDING VS. A BRAND
Branding is the work. It’s the process — the strategic, deliberate act of shaping how people see your business through your identity, your messaging, your design, every interaction, every touch point. It’s your mark, your color, your typeface, your voice, all built with purpose—nothing left to chance.
Your brand is the result. It’s the feeling. The perception. The sum of every impression your customers have formed about your business, good or bad. It’s your reputation made visible. Your promise made tangible.
One is the process. The other is the outcome. And you don’t get a great outcome without a deliberate process. Nobody accidentally builds a great brand — the same way nobody accidentally builds a great bridge.
You don’t get a great outcome without a deliberate process.
You don’t get a great outcome without a deliberate process.
A TALE OF TWO COFFEE SHOPS
Let me give you an example, because I could talk theory all day, and you still wouldn’t care.
Picture two coffee shops on the same street. Same rent. Same coffee supplier. On taste alone, you couldn’t pick a winner.
One of them has a logo someone’s cousin knocked out in an afternoon. The colors are inconsistent — the sign is one shade of green, the cup another, and the website a third — and the website doesn’t even load properly on a phone.
The other? Every touch point lines up. The cup, the sign, the barista’s apron, the website, the logo, even the way the person behind the counter talks to you. It’s a symphony in sync.
Same coffee. Which one are you recommending to a friend? Which one will you pay fifty cents more for, without even realizing you’re doing it?
That’s not magic. That’s branding — the deliberate process that creates a brand, the outcome, the feeling, the reason you pick one over the other without quite knowing why.
That’s not magic. That’s branding.
CONFUSION IS EXPENSIVE
Feelings matter here, and we’ll come back to that word a lot, because it’s an important barometer of a brand’s health. The coffee shop with the mismatched logo isn’t failing because the coffee is worse. It’s failing because nobody trusts what they can’t quite make sense of.
One shop sells coffee. The other is a brand people feel they can trust.
Confusion is expensive. It costs you customers who never even tell you why they left.
Confusion is expensive. It costs you customers who never even tell you why they left.
THE FIELD GUIDE
This is the engine behind everything I do — thirty years designing brands across three continents, more industries than I can list, and enough client meetings to fill a book. Actually, I did fill a book: 150 questions business owners actually ask, from “Do I really need a professionally designed logo?” to “Can publishing a book actually grow my business?”
As David Ogilvy put it, any fool can put together a promotion, but building a real brand takes genius, faith, and perseverance.
Whether you’re building a brand from nothing, refreshing something that’s gone a little stale, or getting a business ready to sell — that’s the work ahead of us.
On our next Episode #2: Is your logo your brand? And how branding, marketing, and advertising actually differ.
This has been B RAND: NEW. If this made you think differently about your business for five minutes, share it with another business owner who needs to hear it.
COMPLETE THE FORM TO
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
"*" indicates required fields
COMPLETE THE FORM TO
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
"*" indicates required fields
Subscribe and Share – WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT
