Brands & Branding

Brands were originally developed as labels of ownership: name, term, design, symbol. However, today it is what they do for people that matters much more, how they reflect and engage them, how they define their aspiration and enable them to do more. Powerful brands can drive success in competitive and financial markets, and indeed become the organization's most valuable assets.

There are a number of interpretations of the term brand (De Chernatony 2003). They are summarized as follows:

- A brand is simply a logo e.g. McDonald's Golden Arches.

- A brand is a legal instrument, existing in a similar way to a patent or copyright.

- A brand is a company e.g. Coca-Cola.

- A brand is shorthand - not as straightforward. Here a brand that is perceived as having benefits in the mind of the consumer is recognised and acts as a shortcut to circumvent large chunks of information. So when searching for a product or service in less familiar surroundings you will conduct an information search. A recognised brand will help you reach a decision more conveniently.

- A brand is a risk reducer. The brand reassures you when in unfamiliar territory.

- A brand is positioning. It is situated in relation to other brands in the mind of the consumer as better, worse, quicker, slower, etc.

- A brand is a personality, beyond function e.g. Apple's iPod versus just any MP3 player.

- A brand is a cluster of values e.g. Google is reliable, ethical, invaluable, innovative and so on.

- A brand is a vision. Here managers aspire to see a brand with a cluster of values. In this context vision is similar to goal or mission.

- A brand is added value, where the consumer sees value in a brand over and above its competition e.g. Audi over Volkswagen, and Volkswagen over Skoda - despite similarities.

- A brand is an identity that includes all sorts of components; depending on the brand e.g. Body Shop International encapsulates ethics, environmentalism and political beliefs.

- A brand is an image where the consumer perceives a brand as representing a particular reality e.g. Stella Artois Reassuring Expensive.

- A brand is a relationship where the consumer reflects upon him or herself through the experience of consuming a product or service.

Etymology

Brand, along with many modern-language lexemes such as English burn and brandy, German brennen, and those in many European languages based on the root therm-, are all ultimately related to the ideas of warmth, heat, burning, etc., and descend from an Indo-European root that has been reconstructed as /gwher/.