The brand identity answers the question of what the brand looks like: logo, colors, typography, and imagery. The Brand Operating System answers a different question: how the brand operates when many people and channels use it every day. It includes strategy, templates, processes, and tools. The identity system is the raw material. The operating system is the kitchen and recipe that allows many people to cook the same dish.
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Many businesses call Sinh Vũ saying they need a new logo. After discussions, they realize what they lack is a way to maintain brand consistency in operations, not just a new logo. The identity system and the brand operating system are two different things. Buying the wrong one can waste money without solving the problem.
Two different questions
The brand identity answers the question: what does the brand look like? This includes the logo, colors, typography, images, and presentation style. The Brand Operating System answers a different question: how does the brand operate when many people and channels use it every day.
Both are needed, but they address two different issues. Confusion here leads businesses to pay for a beautiful identity system and still find their brand disjointed.
What belongs to brand identity, and what belongs to the operating system
Quick differentiation:
- Belongs to the identity system: logo and variations, color palette, typography, imagery, basic application templates, style guide.
- Belonging to the operating system: strategy and positioning as the foundation, templates for each type of publication, approval processes, and tools for the team to create independently. Additionally, there should be someone responsible for maintaining consistency and a mechanism for updates as the brand grows.
In other words, the identity system is the ingredient. The operating system is the entire kitchen and recipe for many people to cook the same dish.
A strong brand is a promise kept consistently, repeated at every touchpoint.
Interpretation from Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap
Why buying the wrong thing is wasteful
Businesses need to operate consistently, and simply purchasing an identity system can lead to a situation where there is a beautiful logo, but each department applies it differently, and each publication has a different voice. Each time something new is needed, a redesign must be commissioned. Conversely, a very small business, where one person does everything, buying a complex operating system from the start is also excessive. Choosing the right layer for the right stage is what is wise.
When to only need brand identity, and when to need the entire operating system
You only need an identity system when the brand is small, with few customer touchpoints, and a few people involved, without the need for rapid expansion. You need the operating system when the team and number of channels increase, and many people are using the brand. At that point, the cost of inconsistency begins to outweigh the cost of building a system.
Sinh Vũ combines both into a single thread
Instead of selling separately, Sinh Vũ designs the identity system within an operating system from the beginning, so businesses do not have to go back and redo the foundational elements after a few years. For small projects, Sinh Vũ creates a sufficient foundation while leaving room for expansion. For larger projects, a complete system is built for the entire team to operate sustainably.
The question to ask before hiring is who will maintain brand consistency after the handover, not just how beautiful the logo is.
References
Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap. Alina Wheeler, Designing Brand Identity. David Aaker, Building Strong Brands.