Branding Advice You’ll Never Forget, From Brands That Are Shaping Tomorrow

When it comes time to focus on your company’s branding, it is always good to get advice from the experts who have done it. Draw expert insights from those who have been the shepherds of brands through time and those who scaled their brands to reach millions, if not billions, of people. Is there a branding related quote you think we should add? Let us know.

Design Your Brand Well + Make It Memorable

“Brands are shaped by the experience they deliver in the marketplace. And great brand experiences do not happen by accident—they are designed. Design is what makes a brand palpable and powerful.”
— Gregg Heard, VP of Brand Identity and Design, AT&T

Todd Simmons, Vice President, Brand Experience & Design at IBM, “Your brand is not what you make. It’s what you make happen.” And added, always, “Tell the truth,” when it comes to branding.

“Logos and branding are so important. In a big part of the world, people cannot read French of English–but are great at remembering signs.”
— Karl Lagerfeld

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
— Steve Jobs

Build A Brand People Trust

“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.”
— Paul Rand

“A brand promise is a contract of trust.”
–Tom Hardy, Professor of Design Management, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

“A great brand must talk to many of us – yet each of us. Even the most global brands are inherently local. The job of marketers is define that core in such a way that the story continues but, like people, the essence stays the same. ”
— Rebecca Messina, Global CMO, Beam Suntory

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
— Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon

Give Your Brand A Larger Purpose

“The most powerful and enduring brands are build from the heart.”
— Howard Schultz, CEO, Starbucks

“The brands that break through are the ones that clearly tell the story of their purpose in a customer’s life, versus trying to solely drive towards an aspirational proposition. Example – Nike has gone from “just do it” – to actually focusing on technology to help you do it (and telling their brand and product story around that). ”
— David Jaye, CMO, The Weather Company, an IBM Business

“A good brand changes the world.”
— Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist, Canva

“As the human race yearns for greater meaning. Brands have a responsibility to deliver greater purpose.”
— Jonathan Mildenhall, CMO, Airbnb

“Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand.”
— David Ogilvy

Read more: Walk the Talk