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If you want to build a meaningful brand, you’re in the right place.

Let’s dive into Brand DNA—the core concept of Prebranding—to get on the same page about how the brands of the future are built today.

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Are brands living beings?

I like to say that brands are living beings. They exist. They live in people’s thoughts, senses, and feelings.

Businesses that invest in their brands are way more than just products. Think of a few of your favourite brand—isn’t it like your friend sometimes? We bond with brands. You can always count on them, and doing things together is so pleasurable. Now think about personal brands: don’t you have a YouTuber you always check on, get insights from, and occasionally leave a comment for?

If brands are living beings, they are unique. Just as you cannot find two identical eye pupils or fingerprints in humans, there are no two businesses that are exactly the same.

However, both humans and businesses are not always eager to embrace their authentic individuality. And honestly, this is something we should fix as soon as possible. The more real we—and our brands—are, the easier it will be to thrive in the collaborative future, where everyone is acting from their zone of genius and letting others do the same.

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What is Brand DNA?

You can think of Brand DNA like the DNA code in living beings. Just as the environment activates certain genes from our unique genetic code—which remains constant—brands activate campaigns, products, or markets. Like human beings, brands grow and take on different roles as time passes. And just as humans maintain certain character traits, brands aim to be recognized for specific ways of operating in the world.

It’s not easy, so let’s put it another way. Brand DNA comes long before branding itself. It’s more of a philosophical, ethical, or cultural concept underpinning the brand—something that doesn’t change over time.

To design Brand DNA, one has to work with the source—typically the founder, and sometimes a core team—those who took the first risk to realize the idea. Brand DNA is rooted in their personal drive.

Brand DNA emerges from people behind the brand. Their beliefs, values, and what truly matters to them will always impact their business decisions. In this way, a piece of the founder’s soul is embedded in the brand.

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Why does it matter to have Brand DNA well-defined?

Brand DNA is there once and for all, while brands will keep rebranding. If you trace back the history of big brands, you’ll see that they continuously adjust their visual, verbal, and sensory communication to fit the times they live in.

1. Clarity of Communication

Brands exist to help businesses connect with their audiences. Just as humans communicate both verbally and non-verbally, brands express themselves through more than just words. Colours, shapes, images, videos, sounds, brand experiences, product features—even the products themselves—everything sends a message!

When Brand DNA is well-defined, communication flows effortlessly from it. This not only makes the work of branding, marketing, social media teams easier but, most importantly, strengthens connection with customers and ensures that the message is delivered.

2. Consistency = Trust

The source code—Brand DNA—that stays the same, while the world around is changing. This guarantees brand consistency over time, which is a top priority for anyone serious about brand management.

Consistency builds trust. Whatever the brand does, we want it to be inviting to the same world because we aim to build long-term relationships, and these are established through trust.

3. Long-term Clarity = Avoiding Costly Guessing

Another major benefit is the clarity of a long-term vision, which makes it easier to make decisions about business, marketing, and personal directions. It’s crucial to be mindful when making key decisions, especially when starting a new brand.

It’s a very big topic, and I have outlined it in a separate article on the Consequences Model.

4. Creative Safety

Defining Brand DNA is an excellent starting point for creative ideas—products, product features, communication, campaigns, UI/UX solutions, and what have you. Without a clear Brand DNA, all creative ideas are based on guessing what’s in the founder’s mind. Sometimes the guess is right, sometimes it’s not. It’s better to be clear about where we’re heading, as this significantly increases the chances of guessing right.

A good brand DNA is at the same time a constraint and a liberation for creative staff. It makes their work easier whilst still ensuring coherent and consistent communication.

5. Company Culture That Makes People Stay

Last but not least, Brand DNA serves as an excellent foundation for company culture principles. When brand values are defined, they naturally lead to the ways a company treats its customers, employees, vendors, and partners. On the contrary, a lack of Brand DNA poses a risk of company culture being overtaken by the habitual behaviour of human beings, who, though capable of excellence, are also prone to flaws.

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What are the ingredients of Brand DNA?

Every brand strategist has their own playbook. Over the years of working with Prebranding and gaining insights into what it takes to build a meaningful brand, I have identified the following elements that can be designed as part of a brand’s code.

Note: Yes, they are numerous! Just as human personality has multiple dimensions, you cannot define someone simply by saying, for example, that they are an introvert. And don’t worry—you don’t have to define all of them. For simple brands, having just one well-defined Brand DNA factor is already a game-changer.

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BRAND PURPOSE

It’s the reason why it all started, beyond money. Brand purpose often connects to the founder’s personal story, and the events leading up to the creation of the brand. It’s probably the most personal of all the factors.

In the long run, brand purpose serves as a grounding point for even the most difficult conversations. In times of trouble, we can always return to what brought us here and see if it can still unite us.

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BRAND VALUES

This factor is special because it’s a set. It typically consists of 3 to 5 elements, usually 4. They only make sense as a set. It’s like a meal that needs to be composed in order to taste good.

As the name suggests, this factor describes what we care about, what we believe in, what standpoints we take, etc. We prefer to see more specific concepts here (e.g., whole systems change, radical honesty) rather than broad concepts (e.g., change, honesty).

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BRAND VISION

As the North Star of your business journey, brand vision showcases the ultimate goal your brand aims to achieve. It helps if this goal is big enough that you don’t quite know how to reach it yet. You’re navigating by the North Star, but that doesn’t mean you’ll build a spaceship and land on it.

When this factor is nailed down, it can save you a lot of headaches and second-guessing. Some founders tend to jump on the latest marketing trends or temporary social media hypes, which can result in their brand becoming inconsistent. As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

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BRAND MISSION

Mission and vision are logically connected. If you know the vision, the mission outlines how you are going to achieve it. This is the only factor that must be defined using verbs.

If you think of the word “mission,” or better yet, imagine people with a particular mission, it’s like an obsession to keep doing something over and over again. Those who carry a mission don’t get distracted by other things, because the mission always tells them exactly what they should do.

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BRAND ESSENCE

This is perhaps the least known factor of all the ones mentioned above. There are also many different ways to define it. Some say that Brand Essence should be expressed in just 1-3 words, while others equate Brand DNA with Brand Essence.

In our playbook, Brand Essence is the most important thing we want people to think and feel about the brand. If we had limited time and could define only one factor, we would go for Brand Essence.

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Designing a Brand DNA—as unique as you are—is like infusing your soul into your brand. It’s a profound process that requires a commitment of time (usually 3–9 weeks), yet it’s truly enjoyable and ‘delivers breakthroughs in unanticipated directions‘ (client testimonial).

If you’re ready to level up your brand, book a free call to check alignment.

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Big Gratitude for peer reviews:
Victor Vorski, Source & Founder of The Gathering
Khandiz Joni, Founder of Regenasyst
Jessica Lohmann, Founder of Ethical Brand Marketing