For those who call it just “look-and-feel” — think again. Think VIBE.

The Urban Dictionary echoes that, adding, “a distinctive emotional atmosphere.” So when a project manager at a large global brand consultancy handed out a project status sheet with lots of narrow columns and rows, along with dates and acronymed deliverables that, in the abstract, meant nothing at all, I was skeptical. Until finally, one of them spoke to me.

“Stacy, what’s a V.I.B.E.?” I asked, having had one sip of coffee at most. She calmly stated that it stood for “Visual Identity Basic Elements.” That was the aha moment for me. You see, when you work as a brand consultant, clients typically see you as solely focused on the logo. And to a large extent that is true — I’ve worked with brand guys over the years who couldn’t care less about the right fonts or images used on branded communications, but were really more focused on the logo, on the tail fin of the 747 or the flag in front of the corporate offices. More simply put, that means most folks in this industry think “brand = logo.” I always bristled at this commonly accepted, misguided notion. Yes, logos are important. They mark your marketing territory. And yes, brand is about an experience and a set of expectations with a customer, employee, blah, blah, blah.

But the visual system, the graphical stuff, the elements that are there to support the logo (more commonly referred to as “secondary graphics”), to me, are the real players delivering your message. You know these character actors by name, don’t you? — typography, color palette, imagery and secondary graphics, or what we lovingly call “unifying graphics,” as, at the end of the day, these are the components that are the glue for your branded experience. When it comes down to it, you want your customers and prospects to receive an email, pick up a piece of collateral or experience a store or office space and say, “I know which brand is delivering to me this amazing experience” — all without seeing the logo at the bottom of the page! That’s why I call it VIBE or Visual Identity Basic Elements. They are much more than a supporting cast for your logo. They are the key messengers for why your brand is relevant and engaging, and holds a distinctive position in your relative marketplace.

Think of Starbucks’s illustrative and painterly wall murals and textures that touch everything from their store design to their product packaging. Think of Burberry’s signature tartan pattern. One glimpse, and you know exactly whose trench coat, blazer or umbrella that is. Think of Google’s generous use of white space, along with simple, primary colors in type and action buttons. These are the visual cues that together create a personality, an experience — better yet, they conjure a certain vibe.