Branding

A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business.

A brand can take many forms which include names, symbols or colour combinations or a slogan. The word branding began simply as a way of marking cattle and identifying the owner of specific livestock. This was usually done with a hot iron stamp.rA legally protected brand name is called a trademark. The word brand has evolved over the years and is now used to give certain products identity. It affects the personality of a product, company or service.

A concept brand is a brand that is associated with an abstract concept, like breast cancer awareness or environmentalism, rather than specific product, service or business.

Coca Cola is a good example of a very successful American brand name. It is a widely recognised trademark representing a global brand.

Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company and how it relates to specific customers and investors. Branding itself can in some circumstances have a psychological effect. This is known as brand association which can be anything from thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences , beliefs, attitudes. Branding is more psychological than physical. That is to say that the image or design creates an explosion of different feelings and emotions which encourage the consumer to buy their product. It is harmless weapon that ensnares the masses to think in a particular way.

The experimental aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand brand experience. The psychological aspect , sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the human psyche. This usually consists of all the information associated with the product.

People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. A brand is therefore one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management. Orientation of the whole organization towards its brand is called brand orientation.

Careful brand management seeks to make the product or services relevant to the target audience. Brands should be seen as more than the difference between the actual cost of a product and its selling price - they represent the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to the consumer.

A brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition. When brand recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a critical mass of positive sentiment in the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. One goal in brand recognition is the identification of a brand without the name of the company present. For example, Disney has been successful at branding with their particular script font (originally created for Walt Disney's "signature" logo), which it used in the logo for go.com.

Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic (see also brand promise). From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also command higher prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic, store-branded product), people may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand owner.