Well beyond a logo or a website, a brand is the sum of associations one has about a given organization, company, product, or place. Imbued with meaning, these associations determine a brand’s place – for better or worse – in our heads and hearts.

Brand identities and other touchpoints serve to trigger relevant associations in our minds. These triggers include a place’s logo, but extend well beyond to anywhere the brand reaches its audiences. These touchpoints are most literally expressed as signage, packaging or other printed goods, but brand is also transmitted in service encounters, in the heft of a coaster, by the scent of the handsoap in the restrooms, and other ways unseen.

Taken together, these physical, verbal and behavioral cues point all audiences back to existing perceptions of a brand. Every touchpoint offers an opportunity to delight or disappoint, and the visual identity is no exception. But winning brands make their mark by delighting us at every touchpoint, in every experience, not by their logos alone.