4 Monday January, 2020

BRAND & BRANDING 

A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.

Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and store value as brand equity for the object identified, to the benefit of the brand's customer, it’s owners and shareholders. Name brands are sometimes distinguished from generic or store brands.

A Supermarket that is branded with a name “ Shoprite”

Local Market or Houses are not mentioned in this magazine as type of brand

The practice of branding - in the original literal sense of marking by burning - is thought to have begun with the ancient Egyptians, who were known to have engaged in livestock branding as early as 2,700 BCE. [need quotation to verify] Branding was used to differentiate one person's cattle from another by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot branding iron. 



If a person stole any of the cattle, anyone else who saw the symbol could deduces the actual owner. The term has been extended to mean a strategic personality for a product or company, so that "brand" now suggests the values and promises that a consumer may perceive and buy into. Over time the practice of branding objects extended to a broader range of packaging and goods offered for sale including oil, wine, cosmetics, and fish sauce and, in the 21st century, extends even further into services (such as legal, financial and medical), political parties and people (e.g. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry). Branding in terms of painting a cow with symbols or colors at flea markets was considered to be one of the oldest forms of the practice.

In the modern era, the concept of branding has expanded to include deployment by a manager of the marketing and communication techniques and tools 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, includes a brand's identity, personality, product design, 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, hence branding is among a few remaining forms of product differentiation.


BRAND EQUITY is the measurable totality of a brand's worth and is validated by observing the effectiveness of these branding components. As markets become increasingly dynamic and fluctuating, brand equity is built by the deployment of marketing techniques to increase customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, with side effects like reduced price sensitivity. A brand in essence, is a promise to its customers of what they can expect from products and may include emotional as well as functional benefits. When a customer is familiar with a brand or favors it incomparably to its competitors, a corporation has reached a high level of brand equity. Special accounting standards have been devised to assess brand equity. In accounting, a brand defined as an intangible asset, is often the most valuable asset on a corporation's balance sheet. Brand owners manage their brands carefully to create shareholder value. Brand valuation is a management technique that ascribes a monetary value to a brand, and allows marketing investment to be managed (e.g.: prioritized across a portfolio of brands) to maximize shareholder value. Although only acquired brands appear on a company's balance sheet, the notion of putting a value on a brand forces marketing leaders to be focused on long term stewardship of the brand and managing for value.

SERVICE BRANDS

A service brand develops as companies move from manufacturing products to delivering complete solutions and intangible services. Service brands are characterized by the need to maintain a consistently high level of service delivery. This category includes the following:

  • Classic service brands (such as airlines, hotels, car rentals, and banks)
  • Pure service providers (such as member associations)
  • Professional service brands (such as advisers of all kinds—accountancy, management consultancy)
  • Agents (such as travel agents and estate agents)
  • Retail brands (such as supermarkets, fashion stores, and restaurants)

Juliet Ike is a Talent & Skill Development Coach, Content Creator, Spokenword Poet, Media Personal, Cosmetician, Lifestyle Blogger and a Humanitarian. A vibrant lady whose passion is driven towards African Development cling on Sustainability.    


INDIVIDUAL BRANDING

also called individual product branding, flanker brands or multibranding, is "a branding strategy in which products are given brand names that are newly created and generally not connected to names of existing brands offered by the company.”

 


Each brand, even within a same company, has a unique name, identity and image, allowing the company to target different market segments, tailor pricing and marketing strategies, and separate the image and reputation of different products.


ORGANIZATIONAL BRANDS



Focus on identity and purpose – who is behind it and why it matters. Strong organizational brands include Whole Foods, Patagonia, Starbucks, Google, Microsoft, Nike, and Apple. These companies aren't building portfolios of brands, they are the brand.


PERSONAL BRANDS





A person can be considered a brand. It can be comprised of one individual, as in the cases of Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk or Kelechi Amadi or it may be composed of a few individuals, where the branding is associated with different personalities. With the advent of the Internet and social media, the phenomenon of personal branding offers tools and techniques for virtually anyone to create a brand around themselves.


GROUP BRANDS



This happens when there is a small group of branded entities that have overlapping, interconnected brand equity. For example, the Stallion Group of Companies brand that manufactures plastic consumables and Flexible packaging for the West African market. It has invested in modern plastic and flexi-pack manufacturing plant.


MEDIA BRANDS





Media brands include newspapers, magazines, and television channels such as Channels TV, Punch Newspaper, Vanguard Newspaper etc..


E-BRANDS



E-brands exist only in the virtual world. Many e-brands, such as Amazon.com, have a central focus on providing an online front end for delivering physical products or services. Others provide information and intangible services to benefit consumers. Typically a common denominator among

e-brands is the focus on delivering a valued service or experience in the virtual environment


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Look out for our next magazine on 7th Thursday January, 2021.

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