Brand categories and industries

When you set up a brand, Braandly asks what kind of business it is. Two things answer that: a category and an industry. This guide explains what each one means, how they connect, where you set them, and why the choice affects how your brand is found.

The short version

• Industry is the broad sector, the top level. There are 30 of them.
• Category is the specific business type, a level narrower. There are thousands.
• Every category belongs to exactly one industry, so choosing a category also decides the industry.
• You pick the category (or categories) when creating a brand. The industry is set for you, automatically, from your first category.

Industries: the broad sector

An industry is the wide bucket your brand sits in. Braandly organizes every brand into one of 30 industries, such as Food & Beverage, Digital & Information Technology, Health & Wellness, Retail & E-commerce, and Creative & Media. Each industry has a name, an emoji, and a short description of what it covers.

Think of the industry as the section of a directory. It groups many different businesses that share a broad field, even when what they actually do is quite different. The complete list is at the end of this article.

Categories: your specific business type

A category is the precise type of business, one level below the industry. "Bakery," "Dentist," "Law firm," and "Software company" are categories. Braandly has thousands of them, so there is almost always one that matches your brand closely.

A category is the label a customer would use to describe exactly what you do, not just the field you work in. A brand can hold more than one category when it genuinely operates as several business types.

How they relate

The two form a parent-and-child structure. The industry is the parent; the categories are the children grouped under it. Every category rolls up to exactly one industry, and each industry contains many categories.

Because that link already exists, you never set the industry directly. You choose the category that fits your brand, and the industry comes with it. When you choose more than one category, the first category you pick is treated as your primary one, and your brand's industry is taken from it.

Where you set them

You choose your category while creating a brand. Braandly has two creation flows, and each labels the field slightly differently. Neither flow asks you to pick an industry; it is always derived from your category.

Creating with AI

In the AI flow, the field is labeled Brand Categories and you can select up to three that best describe your brand. Start typing your business type and pick the closest matches from the list. This flow also asks for your Website, which it uses to research and generate the brand.

For the full walkthrough, see Create a brand with AI.

Creating manually

In the manual flow, the field is labeled Brand Category and you select one. Open the Brand Category dropdown, search for your business type, and choose the closest match. It is a required field, so you cannot move past this step without setting it.

For the full walkthrough, see Create a brand manually.

Changing them later

If you set the wrong category, or you want to add or remove one, you can update it from your brand's details after creation. Updating your categories updates the derived industry too. See How to edit brand identity.

Why the choice matters

Your category and industry do more than label the brand. They decide how it is found and grouped across Braandly's public brand directory.

• Discovery. Brands are browsable by industry and filterable by category. Accurate classification puts your brand in front of people looking for exactly what you offer.
• Grouping. Brands in the same industry appear together. The right industry keeps yours in the correct section instead of an unrelated one.
• Search and filtering. Visitors narrow the catalog by industry and category, so a precise category makes your brand easier to surface.
• Recommendations. Braandly uses your classification to tailor guidance and suggestions for your brand.

Choosing the right category

• Pick the category a customer would actually search for, not an aspirational one.
• List your most representative category first, since it sets your industry.
• Add a second or third category (AI flow) only when your brand truly operates as more than one business type. Loosely related extras make your brand harder to find under the right heading.
• If nothing is an exact match, choose the closest option. You can refine it later.

Troubleshooting

Can I choose more than one category? In the AI flow, yes, up to three. In the manual flow, you choose a single category. You can adjust your categories later from the brand's details either way.

Do I pick the industry myself? No. The industry is set automatically from your first category, so there is no separate industry field to fill in.

My brand shows the wrong industry. How do I fix it? The industry follows your primary (first) category. Reorder or change your categories so the most representative one is first, and the industry updates to match.

What if no category fits exactly? Choose the closest match. With thousands of categories, one is usually close enough, and you can change it after the brand is created.

The full list of industries

Related articles

• Brands overview
• Create a brand with AI
• Create a brand manually
• How to edit brand identity