What is a "brand" and what is the activity of "branding"?

Question

I hear a lot of people talk about these things but it seems they are working from different definitions.

I hear a lot of marketing and adverting people talk about these things but it seems they are all working from different definitions.

Answer 1

in marketing a brand and a branding (or the act of creating a brand identiy) is how a product looks to the consumer... like Kraft products.... their brand is Kraft and their identiy in the market is food for families... their brand identiy i the color of the packaging, the tone of the advertising, etc...

the design of the product is carried through all the advertising and tonoe of the company and products they serve... think Disney. Family fun. Kid fun, bright colors, Micky MOuse... etc,..

Answer 2

There is no clear defnition. The general principle is that when you simply trademark a product you have established a brand name, but establishing a "brand" may take years. It means that your product has an identity that distinguishes it from the competition. Some brands become vernacular, so we say Kleenex when we mean Puffs or Chapstik when we mean Blistex, because one brand has predominated so long or made a deeper impression. When a brand gets too popular (like Corn Flakes), it risks losing its trademark because it is part of common speech.

The process of "branding" is advertising and marketing campaigns to increase consumer awareness of and loyalty to a brand of product. It can mean something as simple as newspaper coupons or as involved as movie and television product placements.

Answer 3

Branding means creating a "niche" 4 ur product(s) in d market flooded wid goods.Providing a tag dat will promote sales owing 2 d picture of ur firm dat u've put in front of d customers.A strong brand wins over a weaker one primarily on d basis of legendary success story of company's banner,consumer reliability,company's ethos n most importantly d quality provided at a certain price.Branding is directly impacted by d set of ethics dat a company follows.

Answer 4

Your brand is who you are, and why you are the right choice. It's your connection with your target markets.

Done right, your brand gives you traction. Done wrong, you spin your wheels.

Business Week says the Coca-Cola brand is worth roughly $67 billion. That's a LOT of cola.

How can their brand be worth so much? Because their brand makes it:

* easier to sell,
* easier to charge more, and
* harder on their competitors.

The activity of branding varies depending on the size of the organization, the nature of the target audience(s), the nature of the organization, product, or service, etc.

The short version: creating the desired relationship b/w your organization, product or service and your target audience.

More info at:
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/brand/2006/
http://www.freshgraphics.net/HowWeWork/branding.html

Answer 5

A brand can either be something that identifies a company or one of it's products. It can be a logo, an ad campaign, a slogan, etc.

The activity of branding, is to promote whatever the brand is, so that when people see that, they automatically associate it with your company or product.

Some brands have become so famous that everyone uses them for all similar products, which is testament to the brand itself. Examples of this are: Kleenex for all types of facial tissue, even though it is actually only a brand for Kimberly-Clark; Band-Aid for all types of adhesive bandages, even though once again it is only for Johnson & Johnson.

The ultimate goal of a brand and the branding activity, is to make it so that it's a common phrase that everyone uses and thinks of whenever they think of a product.

Answer 6

Short and simple: A brand is what differentiates one generic commodity from another. You don't just buy flour, you buy Gold Medal Flour, because they have built a brand that leads you to believe they are superior in some manner. Without that brand, you wouldn't know to choose one pile of white powdery flour from the next.

In order to create this brand, Gold Medal has created a brand image, including logo, colors, packaging, and selling points that differentiate them from the competition.

On a larger scale, brands can encompass anything that affects a customer's perception of your company or product, including everything from sponsorships to how you pay your executives.

Answer 7

A brand is a name, term, design or symbol that identifies a business or organization.

Branding is the same thing, possibly coming up with the name or design. It started when farmers would have to brand their cows and when pirates were branded so that people would know who' and what they were.

Answer 8

A brand is a remnant of a burn. Branding is burning. Usually people try to make shapes, pictues, etc., but they end up infected and really nasty. Also used as cow barcodes.
Kind of like a tattoo, by the way

Answer 9

Branding refers to body modification technique of burning skin. In the same way that people brand cows to track them, people brand themselves (ie. frat symbol). This is an alternative to tattooing. It has become more and more popular, but is generally looked down upon by society as deviant.

Answer 10

David Aaker is a branding guru (prof. at Berkeley). Check out a couple of his books -- "Building Strong Brands" and "Managing Brand Equity." They are excellent resources.