Brand

Photograph of the Apple Store Omotesando in Tokyo, Japan
Apple Inc. is the world's most powerful brand in 2024 according to Brand Finance.[1]
The Coca-Cola wordmark is a distinctive brand logo used to attract the attention of people attending a sporting event, or watching it on television.

A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers.[2][3][4][5] 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 customers, its owners and shareholders.[6] Brand names are sometimes distinguished from generic or store brands.

The practice of branding—in the original literal sense of marking by burning—is thought to have begun with the ancient Egyptians, who are known to have engaged in livestock branding and branded slaves as early as 2,700 BCE.[7][8] Branding was used to differentiate one person's cattle from another's 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 deduce 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's stage names.

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 include 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.[9] 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.[10]

Brand equity is the measurable totality of a brand's worth and is validated by observing the effectiveness of these branding components.[11] When a customer is familiar with a brand or favors it incomparably over its competitors, a corporation has reached a high level of brand equity.[11] Brand owners manage their brands carefully to create shareholder value. Brand valuation is a management technique that ascribes a monetary value to a brand.

  1. ^ Haigh, Richard. "Apple clinches top spot as world's most valuable brand, outshining Amazon, Google, and Microsoft". Brand Finance. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Brand | Common Language Marketing Dictionary". Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  3. ^ American Marketing Association Dictionary Archived 2012-06-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-06-29. The Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) endorses this definition as part of its ongoing Common Language in Marketing Project Archived 2019-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Fahy, John; David Jobber (2015). Foundations of Marketing. McGraw-Hill.
  5. ^ "Brand Common Language Marketing Dictionary". 24 May 2018. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  6. ^ Aaker, David A. (1991). Managing Brand Equity. The Free Press.
  7. ^ Wheeler, Harold (1946). The Miracle Of Man. Dunedin, New Zealand: Longacre Press. p. 84. ASIN B000YGPD0C.
  8. ^ Karev, Ella (2022). "'Mark them with my Mark': Human Branding in Egypt". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 108 (1–2): 191–203. doi:10.1177/03075133221130094. ISSN 0307-5133.
  9. ^ Ghodeswar, Bhimrao M. (2008). "Building brand identity in competitive markets: A conceptual model". Journal of Product & Brand Management. 17. Bingely, West Yorkshire, England: Emerald Publishing: 4–12. doi:10.1108/10610420810856468.
  10. ^ ranchhod, 2004
  11. ^ a b Keller, Kevin Lane (January 1, 1993). "Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity". Journal of Marketing. 57 (1). Chicago, Illinois: American Marketing Association: 1–22. doi:10.2307/1252054. JSTOR 1252054.