What Is Branding? 4 Minute Crash Course.

What is branding? A brand is not a logo. A brand is not a product. A brand is not a promise. A brand is not the sum of all the impressions it makes on an audience. A brand is a result–it's a person's gut feeling about a product, service or company. It's in their heads and in their hearts. A brand is your reputation.

Listen to the whole talk on our podcast

Marty Neumeier started as a graphic designer and copywriter in the 1970s. In 1984, when the Macintosh launched, he moved to Silicon Valley to help companies like Apple, Netscape, HP, Adobe, and Google build their brands.

"Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what they say it is."

Books by Marty Neumeier
===
🚀 Futur Accelerator
The step-by-step blueprint and coaching program designed to get your creative business off the ground:

🥇 Futur Pro
The professional creative community designed to grow your personal brand, your business, and your network:

✍️ Other Courses, Templates, and Tools:

🎙 The Futur Podcast:

Recommended books, tools, music, resources, typefaces & more:

Music by Epidemic Sound:

Shorts Playlist:

We love getting your letters. Send them here:
The Futur c/o Chris Do
1702 Olympic Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404

*By making a purchase through any of our affiliate links, we receive a very small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us on our mission to provide quality education to you. Thank you.

—
Host– Chris Do
Content Director– Matthew Encina
Cinematography– Mark Contreras, Stewart Schuster, Ricky Lucas, Jona Garcia
Live Editor– Jona Garcia
Editor– Stewart Schuster, Mark Contreras, Ricky Lucas, Jona Garcia
Social Team: Elle Money, Alex Burlui
Typefaces: Futura, DIN, Helvetica Now, Calibre, Knockout, Champion Gothic
Futur theme song— Adam Sanborne

[duuckiee]

"A brand is a customer's gut feeling about a product, service or company." I have been wondering what brand really is and here I finally got the answer! Thanks Chris!

[ujo]

Seriously, I wish everyone a successful year

[SullivanStanley]

I love how he starts with what branding isn't, it actually helps a lot with understanding the vastness of branding as a whole

[renayalthea]

This might be one of the best 4 minutes conversations on branding I've seen. I have a brand design agency and this is just everything we have been wanting to say. Thank you for this value...

[chriswendel]

This 4 minute video just fundamentally changed the way I look at branding. So often I am trying to explain branding to clients as a thing that you do and it has never resonated with them. Looking at branding as a result vs a process is exactly what I have been trying to get across to my clients but never could. Awesome stuff.

[cdmanor]

I'm taking a course (wedding and event field) and the speaker mentioned his book "The Brand Gap". I was having a challenge understanding what Branding is so I put the question in the YouTube search engine and your video was at the top. Now I have the author's name to the title of the book. Thank you Mr. Marty for elaborating what a brand is, AND what it is not. And thank you, Futur, for having him on as a guest.

[setionos]

- Branding is often confused with logo design, identity design, and typography.
- Branding is not just a logo; it's not the product itself; it's not merely a promise made by a company; and it's not the sum of impressions a company makes.
- A brand is the result of customers' perceptions and feelings about a product, service, or company; it resides in their hearts and minds.
- Each individual customer forms a unique brand perception, contributing to the overall reputation of the business.
- Branding involves creating a reputation through products, design, messaging, culture, and employee behavior, impacting various aspects of a company, with almost everyone in the company influencing the brand in some way.

[PahadiSingsHere]

I rarely comment on videos on YT, but Chris & The Futur team, you have made me do that.
Amazing content, as usual. Although these concepts could be applied to basically any entrepreneurial setup, it would be so great to see content in your channel for other creative professionals like myself (a musician). Could be about business, marketing, managing socials, branding etc.

Once again, thanks so much guys. I honestly, truly appreciate The Futur's intent & content..

Happy new year.. :)

[tracethisspace]

The Brand Gap has been one of the most insightful and useful on branding I've read. The man doesn't just speak brand, he embodies it in his work. Great clip, thank you!

[rudymunroe]

thank you, I'm currently doing some search on branding, whilst creating a brand at the same time. this video was most definitely informative and packed with a lot of information. I had my pen and pad ready. Thank you once again

[vassilisstergioudis]

Apart from what I came here for, I see the cinematography of the discussion. Mr Neumeier sits on a warm background (yellow), while Chris sits on a cold background (cyan). These are complementary colours and they create contrast. When both of you are in the same scene, the background is white, neutral.


Something else I noticed is that in Marty's close up, he is framed in the right portion of the image and he looks to the left, exactly as he does in the scene when both of you are visible. Chris does the opposite.


Good work guys!

[DigSamurai]

I like Jeff bezos definition. Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room.

[Keiarra-qdrb]

4 minutes, 4 freaken minutes is all it took to change my entire perspective of a brand and possibly start one of the most successful business in my time, It took me 4 minutes to stop questioning 3 years of hard work and now you have saved me a millions worth of work and a fortune of money. Thank you, That is my motto from now on

[deenixpro]

This video provides a much-needed clarification on what branding truly means. It's not just a logo or a product, but it's the customer's gut feeling about a company, product, or service. Marty's perspective on branding as a result, rather than a process, sheds light on the importance of creating a strong reputation that resonates with customers. As a designer, it's essential to understand that branding encompasses almost all aspects of a business, from the messaging to the culture and employee behavior. This video is a must-watch for anyone who wants to understand branding beyond just surface-level visuals.

[wafiqessop]

You should make a video on personal branding. As a Graduate (like myself), I find this to so important if you want to do work you love.

[Tessa-Morgan]

The way Marty articulated what a brand is was magical. I read his books and to hear it in his voice really cemented things.

[edum.]

the most beautiful brand definition I've ever heard. A brand is truly in your mind! <3

[mistersample]

When building a brand, the definitions in this video serve as benchmarks for the company's value. Thank you for creating it.

[edhowie]

"Let's start with what it's NOT." Exactly. I hope this is the biggest takeaway your viewers have from this. Focus on the result. Incredible video, guys!

[_indomitus_]

This less than 4 min video taught me exactly what i needed to know about what branding is while lecturers in university couldn't. Thank you. Time to watch the deep dive version of this.