Branding Is More Than a Logo: Lessons from Alex Hormozi

I watched this video by Alex Hormozi about branding and it changed the way I thought about brand building. Over the years I've read up on building brands but a lot of it is vague and challenging to implement. What caught my attention was how Alex broke down the concept of brand building into something practical and actionable.

Behavior

One of the most memorable parts of the video was when Alex used the example of branding with literal cattle. He explained how branding originally came from ranchers marking their cows with a hot iron, creating a visible mark that signified ownership. If someone found a branded cow wandering, they’d recognize the mark and either return it to the owner or know whom they were stealing from. The brand symbol altered how people treated the cow, influencing their behavior. This simple example hit home for me. It illustrated that a brand is not just about awareness but about how people react to it.

Pairing

Alex emphasized branding is not just about logos, colors, or emotional appeals. Instead, he explained that branding is "a deliberate pairing of things through an outcome." He used the example of Coca-Cola, where the brand associates the "yum" of a good drink with its product. This deliberate pairing makes people reach for Coca-Cola when they want that particular experience. It’s about creating a specific association in the minds of consumers, which is why people remain loyal to brands like Harley-Davidson or Apple—they link these products with positive outcomes.

To pare positive emotions and outcomes to your brand involve collaborating with other companies that have established those feelings and outcomes as well as making sure costumers experience those outcomes when engaging with your brand.

Branding Vs Advertising

He also highlighted the difference between branding and advertising. Advertising is just about making people aware of your product; branding is about what they think and feel when they see it. One of the most insightful parts was when he discussed how even good advertisements can result in bad branding if the pairing is off.

This made me think about how I approach my own brand. Am I pairing it with things my ideal audience values? Alex's framework clarified that good branding doesn’t mean everyone likes your brand; it means the right people do. He explained how strong brands like Nike partner with sports icons like LeBron James in order to build an association with excellence in sports, which appeals to their ideal audience.

Collaboration

One of the key takeaways was how to grow a brand, especially when starting from scratch. Alex advised pairing your brand with people, experiences, and other elements that your target audience already values. Over time, these associations turn a “weak brand” into a “strong brand.”

Every new brand decision carries risk, as each association can attract some customers while repelling others. The goal, however, is to make sure the net effect is positive—gaining more customers than you lose. This insight gave me the confidence to take calculated risks with my own branding efforts, knowing that not every decision needs to be perfect as long as it moves me closer to my ideal audience.

After watching the video, I realized that brand building isn’t just about visibility—it’s about creating the right connections in the minds of your customers. It’s about choosing deliberate pairings and collaborations that make people want to be part of what your brand represents. This shift in perspective made me rethink how I approach my own branding, focusing more on the experiences and values I want my audience to associate with my work. And as Alex suggested, if you do it right, it can be the difference between a struggling business and one that thrives for decades.

When you have some time I recommend watching the video