BRANDING
A brand is defined: “As a name, term, sign, symbol or special design or some combination of these elements that is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers. A brand differentiates these products from those of competitors” (American Marketing Association, Chicago).
•Brand name is that part that can be spoken, including letters, words and numbers, i.e. 7UP. Brand names simplify shopping, guarantee a certain level of quality and allow for self-expression
•Brand mark-elements of the brand that cannot not be spoken, i.e.symbol
•Trade Character i.e. Ronald McDonald, Pillsbury Doughboy
•Trade mark-legal designation that the owner has exclusive rights to the brand or part of a brand.1990, US Patent & Trademark Office had 680,000 trademarks registered, 56,515 new in that year.
•Trade name-The full legal name of the organization. I.e. Ford, not the name for a specific product.
Attributes of Brand
Values: The values, which govern a producer, are reflected by the brand, thus Tata stand for quality, fair price and so on.
Culture: A brand also represents a certain culture, e.g., Coke is an icon of American culture, while Shilpa Bindis are typically Indian.
Personality: A brand projects a personality. Had the brand been an animal or an object or a person, what would come to our mind?
Like Videocon suggests a lion, MRF suggests a muscle man and Rin suggests a lighting flash. Sometimes a brand may take on the personality of an actual person, e.g., Charlie Chaplin and Cherry Blossom.
User: The brand suggests its own target audience. We know what a Garden Woman is. We know that Sunny is for teenagers. We expect a Mercedes to be driven by an executive or a top-class businessman. These users correspond to the values, culture and personality of the brand. Because of the imagery associated with the brands they actually have the power to enhance or limit a consumer’s perceived image or self- image.
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