Main Branding Terminology

Branding is BIG!

Branding is a big topic nowadays , its so big that branding has its own language. The more you go into this topic you will be amazed by the number of specific branding terms you will come across. We listed below some of the major and important branding specific terms that can get you started in decoding and understanding branding lingo.

Brand Promise: It's the promise your brand communicates to your customers or potential customers every time they are in contact with your business.

Brand Identity: The trade mark, Logo, symbol, Slogan, Colors  or any visual representation of your brand

Brand Image: The ideas or beliefs that your brand projects in the minds of your customers or potential customers once they can relate or have a connection or association with your brand name.

Branding: Branding is simply creating and projecting a positive image in your customer or potential customer's mind.

Brand position: This is the position or the rank of your brand in comparison with other competing brands in your market.

Brand Management: The process of controlling all aspects of how your brand is presented and communicated throughout your organization internally as well as through all media communication channels to your customers and potential customers.

Brand Equity: The value of your brand is based on its reputation, qualities and recognition as well as the commitment and demand it generates. A valuable brand results in customer relationships that secure future earnings by developing brand passion and loyalty.

Rebranding: The process of abandoning the essence and the messages or the brand promise and starting it all over again with a new fresh perspective and new ideas that better suits the market and the target consumers. Basically building a new brand from scratch.

Tagline: This is the slogan associated with your brand or the memorable phrase that gives an indication of your product, brand and market position.

Brand Character:  Brand character is a short description that defines the personality of your brand and the mood and tone that is reflected through all brand communications and expressions. 

Co-branding: Is when two brands jointly offer a specific product or service. Cobrands capitalize on the benefits of two compatible brands that present similarly desirable attributes to consumers. In the offing, both brands stand to benefit from a number of advantages that come out of the synergy like appealing to a greater customer base than either may be able to reach on its own as well as sharing marketing costs resulting in cost saving for each.

Brand positioning: Brand position is the birthplace of the brand or the unique niche in the customer or potential customer's mind that the brand occupies . It is the position that only the brand offering can fill in the market. The brand position must be determined before the brand is developed.

Brand champion:  Is a person who makes the brand come to life for everyone in the organisation. It is someone who embraces the idea that the brand is a living, dynamic entity that needs leadership and direction, someone who always asks " what's in the best interest of the brand? " he or she is someone who makes the rest of the people in the organisation care about doing right by the brand. A brand champion is a leader within the organisation who believes the fundamental truth that the brand is the business.

Brand Equity: Is the intangible positive or negative impressions that exists in people's minds regarding a specific brand yet it has a bankable power and value. It is the sum total of all the different values that people attach to the brand name.

Brand profile: A brand profile is simply a document that captures and clearly communicates what the brand is about, why it is valuable, and how the brand will be introduced to the market. The document is meant to be informal and flexible , there is no specific format to follow and it can hold confidential data or not and should be amended over time. The idea is to go through the discipline of really thinking through what the brand is and what it can be, what you have to work with, and then how you will go about marketing the brand.

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