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Branding
A brand represents the holistic sum of all information about a product or group of products.
This symbolic construct typically consists of a name, identifying mark, logo, visual images or symbols, or mental concepts which distinguishes the product or service.
It is useful for the marketer to think of this as a set of aligned expectations in the mind of its stakeholders -- from its consumers, to its distribution channels, to the people and companies who supply the products and services that make up the brand experience.
A brand often carries connotations of a product's "promise", the product or service’s point of difference among its competitors which makes it special and unique.
Marketers attempt through a brand to give a product a "personality" or an "image".
Thus, they hope to "brand", or burn, the image into the consumer's mind; that is, associate the image with the product's quality.
Because of this, a brand can form an important element of an advertising theme: it serves as a quick way to show and tell consumers what a supplier has offered to the market.
Well known products acquire brand recognition. When a brand has accumulated a mass of positive sentiment among consumers, marketers say that its owner has acquired brand equity or brand franchise.
Brand equity measures the brand's value to the marketer. It is an assessment of the investment a company has made in a brand. Brand franchise measures the effect of this investment on the target market.
When enough brand equity is created that the brand has the ability to draw buyers (even without further advertising), it is said to have brand franchise. A brand name comprises that part of a brand consisting of words or letters that humans can verbalize. A brand name that has acquired legal protection becomes a trademark.
Branding has become part of pop culture. Numerous products have a brand identity: from common table salt to designer clothes. Non-commercially, branding can also apply to the marketing of entities which supply ideas or promises rather than goods and services -- such as political parties or religious organizations.
Consumers as a group may look on the brand as an important aspect of a product, and it can also add value to a product or service. It carries the reputation of a product or company. A branded laundry detergent may sell twice as much product as a store-brand detergent. Although the two products may resemble each other closely in almost every other respect, people have learned to regard the branded product as superior. In some cases they believe that because it costs more it offers better quality.
Advertising spokespersons have also became part of some brands, for example: Mr. Whipple of Charmin toilet tissue and Tony the Tiger of Kellogg’s.
Examples of prominent brand names
The 2001 ranking of the 100 most valuable brands worldwide by Business Week magazine contained 62 American, 30 European, and 6 Japanese brands.
United States
- Apple (computer)
- Boeing (aerospace)
- Coca-Cola (soft drink)
- Columbia Records (recorded sound—since 1988 owned by Sony)
- Ford Motor Company (automobiles)
- Hershey's (chocolate)
- McDonald's (fast food restaurant)
- Microsoft (software)
- The Gap (clothing)
European
- BP (petrol—UK)
- BRIO (toys—Sweden)
- Cadbury (chocolate—UK)
- Ferrari (automobile—Italy)
- Ikea (furniture—Sweden)
- Lego (toys—Denmark)
- Mercedes-Benz (automobile—Germany)
- Nestlé (food—Switzerland)
- Nokia (cell phones—Finland)
- Orangina (soft drink)
Japanese
- Canon
- Honda
- National
- Nintendo
- Panasonic
- Sony
- Toyota
Australian
- Myer (department store)
- Qantas (airline)
- Rip Curl (surf/clothing)
- Telstra (telecommunications)
- Woolworth's (store chain)
This article has been adapted from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
