Can’t tell your visions from your values? Mixing up your propositions and your positionings? Getting crushed under the weight of brand houses, brand pyramids, and brand onions??

Dip your toe in the world of branding and you’re instantly bamboozled by words… a lot of which sound suspiciously made up.

Because they are! A ‘brand’ is just a set of ideas. And all those weird words are just labels people invented to categorise and systematise those ideas. Which is to say: they’re supposed to be helpful.

But they can only be helpful if you know what the heck they mean. Which is why we’ve put together this brand strategy dictionary, listing all the terms you’re likely to bump into out in Brand World — from A-Z (well… B-V, but who’s counting??)

 

Brand narrative

A.k.a. ‘brand story’, ‘brand statement’, ‘about us’, ‘about copy’   |   See also: manifesto

This is a paragraph or two explaining what the heck your brand is, who it’s for, and what it’s up to. It often doubles up as the copy you’ll see on the ‘about us’ page of a brand’s website.

 

Manifesto

A.k.a. ‘philosophy’, ‘credo’   |   See also: brand narrative

If you thought poems were just for Shakespeare and weddings, think again! Because they’re also for… CAPITALISM. A brand manifesto is a piece of text (usually about a paragraph long) that sums up the ethos and aims of your brand. It can sound lyrical, or like a rallying cry. It can be consumer-facing, or something only your staff see.

Here’s a classic from Johnson & Johnson:

 

Mission

A.k.a. ‘mission statement’   |   See also: vision, purpose

Once upon a time, brands used to do stuff. These days, they are on missions. The cynics among us might say that missions are just ways to describe brands doing stuff. But not us. We would never say that.

We would say that missions are more aspirational. Imagine we’re a shoe brand. We could be on a mission to sell shoes, or we could be on a mission:

To open the world up to walkers.

 

Personality

A.k.a. ‘traits’   |   See also: verbal identity

TLDR: your brand’s vibe.

Sometimes that’s expressed through an archetype like ‘the jester’, ‘the rebellious change-maker’, ‘the problematic scout leader’, etc. Or sometimes it’s summed up with a set of adjectives, like these from McDonald’s:

 

Positioning

A.k.a. ‘positioning statement’   |   See also: proposition, USP

Brands don’t exist in a vacuum. They occupy a specific spot in the competitive market and in the consumer imagination. And that’s what we’re talking about when we talk about ‘positioning’.

Remember how we make shoes? A positioning statement helps us define what kind of shoes we make, and for who. Our positioning statement could be:

We make shoes for hard-core hikers. Our boots are built to stand up to long walks – in all weathers, and across tough terrain.

 

Proposition

A.k.a. ‘value prop(osition)’   |   See also: positioning, USP

This is like your positioning, but more focused on the consumer – what we’re ‘proposing’ to them, geddit? Basically it’s the ‘here’s what’s in it for you’.

So my shoe company’s proposition could sound something like:

Boots that walk as far as you can.

 

Purpose

A.k.a. brand promise   |   See also: mission

This is the answer to the question ‘why does your brand exist’?

For our shoe company that might be:

To build a better relationship between people and nature, by helping one visit the other.

 

USP

A.k.a. ‘unique selling point’   |   See also: proposition, positioning

Your USP is your competitive edge. What you do that no one else can. What makes you different to any other brand shilling the same thing you are.

 

Values

A.k.a. ‘ethos’, ‘principles’, ‘beliefs’

These are the beliefs that guide how your company (and the people inside it) behave. Some brands make their values public, but they’re primarily aimed at employees.

So our shoe company’s values might be:

Think like a hiker – We build our shoes to work the way real walkers need them to.

Use every scrap – We try not to waste materials, and recycle as much as we can.

Be nice – We treat people with common-sense kindness.

 

Verbal Identity

A.k.a. ‘Tone of voice’, ‘tone’, ‘voice’, ‘writing guidelines’   |   See also: personality

This is how your brand talks. Your tone can take the form of a few adjectives (‘assertive’, ‘elegant’, ‘wry’), or a full set of writing guidelines.

Here’s how money transfer giant Wise sum up theirs:

 

Vision

See also: mission

This is where you’re trying to get to – the ideal future state for your brand and its users.

And if you’re sensing a glitch in the Matrix because you swear you already read this bit under ‘Mission’, au contraire! Your vision is where you’re trying to get to. Your mission is how you’re going to get there. Flawless with zero overlap.

Are you tired of the shoe thing? Good, neither are we. Here’s how our vision might sound:

We want to be the go-to shoe for hard-core hikers.

 

Visual identity

A.k.a. ‘brand system’, ‘brand assets’, ‘design guidelines’, plus sometimes — confusingly — ‘brand’ or ‘branding’

This is the way a brand looks: its logo, its colours, its fonts, its photography, etc. etc. etc. These can be just a few assets, or hundreds of pages of detailed guidelines, depending on how big your brand is, how much stuff it makes, and how pernickety it wants to be about the way it shows up in the world.

 

BONUS SEGMENT!

On brand houses, brand pyramids, brand onions, brand roses, brand trebuchets…

… or any other ingenious shape a company or agency decides to shove all your brand bits into.

What we’re talking about here is a table. A chart if we’re being generous.

Ultimately, it’s just a way of arranging those other branding bits (your mission, your purpose, your traits etc. etc.) on a page, so you can see how they all fit together.

 

Your brand doesn’t need everything on this list. In fact, that would be fully mad. A few choice elements that give you a clear sense of the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘for who’ of your brand is enough.

And remember, these brand terms are useful, but they’re not the point. The point is what you do with them. Call the parts of your brand whatever you want – just make sure they’re logical, differentiating, and true.