Great Branding

I read an article on Seth Godin's blog (formerly mentioned here) that I found very interesting. He called great branding a "myth," and while I don't completely agree with that terminology, I think there is definitely truth to his statement that there's more to a great brand than just its aesthetic features. Here are a few quotes from the article to help explain it...

There's clearly a Google mythology and a Starbucks one was well. We feel differently about brands like these than we do about, say Maxwell House or Random House.

Why do Santa and Ronald McDonald have a mythology but not Dave at Wendy's or the Burger King?...

People use a Dell. They are an Apple.
- Seth Godin

I thought those examples helped. Starbucks definitely has something going that Maxwell House doesn't. There's something to Apple's branding that Dell is lacking (and that comes from someone who uses a Dell).

Why's that? Is it just that people like the image of an Apple better than the little circle with the word "Dell" in it? Not necessarily. I think they're both strong logos. It probably has something to do with marketing. And I think, as Seth Godin says in his article, that it has something to do with making a brand a story, and not just an image and some text on a product.

Overall, though, I think this concept is a good reminder that there's more to branding and logo design than just creating the literal logo and supporting items. There has to be reasons and a strategy behind it. Good to remember.