WHY BRANDING IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMPANY
ADVERTISING AND BRANDING
QUESTIONS:
- WHAT IS BRANDING
- BRAND ELEMENTS
- TYPES OF BRAND NAMES
- HISTORY OF BRANDING
- REASONS WHY BRANDING IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMPANY
BRANDING
Branding is a set of marketing and communication methods that help to distinguish a company or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting impression in the minds of customers. The key components that form a brand’s toolbox include a brand’s identity, brand communication (such as by logos and trademarks), brand awareness, brand loyalty, and various branding (brand management) strategies. Many companies believe that there is often little to differentiate between several types of products in the 21st century, and therefore branding is one of a few remaining forms of product differentiation.
Brand elements
Brands typically comprise various elements, such as:[
- name: the word or words used to identify a company, product, service, or concept
- logo: the visual trademark that identifies a brand
- tagline or catchphrase: “The Quicker Picker Upper” is associated with Bounty paper towels
- graphics: the “dynamic ribbon” is a trademarked part of Coca-Cola’s brand
- shapes: the distinctive shapes of the Coca-Cola bottle and of the Volkswagen Beetle are trademarked elements of those brands
- Colors: the instant recognition consumers have when they see Tiffany & Co.’s robin’s egg blue (Pantone No. 1837). Tiffany & Co.’s trademarked the color in 1998.
- Sounds: a unique tune or set of notes can denote a brand. NBC’s chimes provide a famous example.
- scents: the rose-jasmine-musk scent of Chanel No. 5 is trademarked
- tastes: Kentucky Fried Chicken has trademarked its special recipe of eleven herbs and spices for fried chicken
- movements: Lamborghini has trademarked the upward motion of its car doors
Brand names come in many styles.A few include:
- initialism: a name made of initials, such as “UPS” or “IBM”
- descriptive: names that describe a product benefit or function, such as “Whole Foods” or “Toys R’ Us”
- alliteration and rhyme: names that are fun to say and which stick in the mind, such as “Reese’s Pieces” or “Dunkin’ Donuts”
- evocative: names that can evoke a vivid image, such as “Amazon” or “Crest”
- neologisms: completely made-up words, such as “Wii” or “Häagen-Dazs”
- foreign word: adoption of a word from another language, such as “Volvo” or “Samsung”
- founders’ names: using the names of real people, (especially a founder’s name), such as “Hewlett-Packard”, “Dell”, “Disney”, “Stussy” or “Mars”
- geography: naming for regions and landmarks, such as “Cisco” or “Fuji Film”
- personification: taking names from myths, such as “Nike”; or from the minds of ad execs, such as “Betty Crocker”
- punny: some brands create their name by using a silly pun, such as “Lord of the Fries”, “Wok on Water” or “Eggs Eggscetera”
- combination: combining multiple words together to create one, such as “Microsoft” (“micr Types of brand names
- Brand names come in many styles.[91] A few include:
- initialism: a name made of initials, such as “UPS” or “IBM”
- descriptive: names that describe a product benefit or function, such as “Whole Foods” or “Toys R’ Us”
- alliteration and rhyme: names that are fun to say and which stick in the mind, such as “Reese’s Pieces” or “Dunkin’ Donuts”
- evocative: names that can evoke a vivid image, such as “Amazon” or “Crest”
- neologisms: completely made-up words, such as “Wii” or “Häagen-Dazs”
- foreign word: adoption of a word from another language, such as “Volvo” or “Samsung”
- founders’ names: using the names of real people, (especially a founder’s name), such as “Hewlett-Packard”, “Dell”, “Disney”, “Stussy” or “Mars”
- geography: naming for regions and landmarks, such as “Cisco” or “Fuji Film”
- personification: taking names from myths, such as “Nike”; or from the minds of ad execs, such as “Betty Crocker”
- punny: some brands create their name by using a silly pun, such as “Lord of the Fries”, “Wok on Water” or “Eggs Eggscetera”
- combination: combining multiple words together to create one, such as “Microsoft” (“microcomputer” and “software”), “Comcast” (“communications” and “broadcast”), “Evernote” (“forever” and “note”), “Vodafone” (“voice”, “data”, “telephone”)
HISTORY OF BRANDING
In pre-literate society, the distinctive shape of amphorae provided potential consumers with information about goods and quality. Pictured: Amphorae for wine and oil, Archaeological Museum, Dion.
Branding and labelling have an ancient history. Branding probably began with the practice of branding livestock in order to deter theft. Images of the branding of cattle occur in ancient Egyptian tombs dating to around 2,700 BCE. Over time, purchasers realised that the brand provided information about origin as well as about ownership, and could serve as a guide to quality. Branding was adapted by farmers, potters and traders for use on other types of goods such as pottery and ceramics. Forms of branding or proto-branding emerged spontaneously and independently throughout Africa, Asia and Europe at different times, depending on local conditions. Seals, which acted as quasi-brands, have been found on early Chinese products of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE); large numbers of seals survive from the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley (3,300–1,300 BCE) where the local community depended heavily on trade; cylinder seals came into use in Ur in Mesopotamia in around 3,000 BCE and facilitated the labelling of goods and property; and the use of maker’s marks on pottery was commonplace in both ancient Greece and Rome Identity marks, such as stamps on ceramics, were also used in ancient Egypt.
REASONS WHY BRANDING IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMPANY
United: Branding links your name, logo, online presence, product/services and appeal to the masses.
Sales: Speaking of sales, branding will create sales and revenue for your business. You will make money based on how the branding marketing strategies work out.
Preference: People are more attached to companies with a brand than companies that doesn’t. Brands create a bond filled with good memories and good times, and customers will never forget it.
Loyalty: A good branding will create customer loyalty. Loyal customers will continue to support you in good and bad times. They will spread a positive message to people they know.
Trust: As customers get to know your business they will begin to trust you. In order to build trust you must give customers a reason to test you out. The branding must be spot on as the first customers will determine how many more (or less) you will receive
Protection: Branding protects you from competitors who want your success. Without it they will have no problem making copycats of what made you popular and claim it for themselves. They can carry the same or similar products but they won’t be able to take your style and originality away
References
Haigh, Robert (18 February 2014). “Ferrari – The World’s Most Powerful Brand”. Brand Finance. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
American Marketing Association Dictionary. Retrieved 2011-06-29. The Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) endorses this definition as part of its ongoing Common Language in Marketing Project.
Foundations of Marketing. fahy& jobber. 2015.
Wheeler, H., The Miracle Of Man, London, Longacre, 1946, p. 84.
Ghodeswar, Bhimrao M (2008). “Building brand identity in competitive markets: A conceptual model”. Journal of Product & Brand Management. 17: 4. doi:10.1108/10610420810856468.
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Keller, Kevin Lane (1993-01-01). “Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity”. Journal of Marketing. 57 (1): 1–22. doi:10.2307/1252054. JSTOR 1252054.
Webster’s ninth new collegiate dictionary, Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1983
“The Evolution of Branding”. Branding Irons Unlimited.
The branding of slaves. The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities
Khan, Saif Ullah; Mufti, Owais (2007). “The Hot History & Cold Future of Brands” (PDF). Journal of Managerial Sciences. 1 (1): 75–87.
Starcevic, Sladjana (2015). “The Origin and Historical Development of Branding and Advertising in the Old civilizations of Africa, Asia and Europe”. Marketing. 46 (3): 179. doi:10.5937/markt1503179S.
Starcevic, Sladjana (2015). “The origin and historical development of branding and advertising in the old civilizations of Africa, Asia and Europe”. Marketing. 46 (3): 179. doi:10.5937/markt1503179S.
