Business vs. Brand: What's The Difference?
Here at EFP, we talk a lot about Business Branding. After all, business branding photography is what we do. Today, let’s address one of the most common questions we get asked as we’re starting off with a new client.
What’s the difference between a business and a brand?
The terms “business” and “brand” may seem interchangeable at first, but are important to distinguish if you’re looking to elevate and clarify your professional persona.
Your business is what you do. It’s the scheduling, it’s the internal communications with team members, it’s how you go about pricing, manufacturing, and delivering the services or goods that you provide. Your business is the guts of the operation.
Your brand is who you are. It’s the outward facing persona of your business. It’s your font and design choices, the way you communicate to your customers, it’s the thematic consistency of the imagery that you use. An easy way to think about a brand is as the Human Characteristics of your business. According to Christina Wallace of Harvard Business School, there are five main characteristics you can incorporate into your brand:
Sincerity
Excitement
Competence
Sophistication
Ruggedness
These five traits can help guide both big and small brand decisions, like the style of your photography, font, logos, and tone.
For example, if your business is in the medical spa industry, your photos might be minimalist in composition, clean and crisp. Your font choices may be professional and feminine. Your copy? Friendly and personal. If your business is rugged and outdoorsy, you might opt for photos with a warm, nostalgic feeling, bold or textured iconography, and hearty, familiar copy.
A great business incorporates their branding values into their practice. Let me explain…
Why does your company exist? Who is your audience? What is your personality?
These three branding questions are obviously helpful for the outward facing personality of your brand, but are an excellent tool for how you do business.
If you can establish the Why, Who and What of your brand, internal business decisions become more straightforward. Who should you partner with? How should you position your brand? The answers to these questions can assist in future business decisions such as choosing new hires, what types of events to participate in, and more.
Business and Branding go hand in hand. Branding helps your business to be perceived in an accurate, professional way.
Learn more about how EFP can help serve your business’ brand photography HERE.
