“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” – Seth Godin
“A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name.” – American Marketing Association
“The intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation, and the way it’s advertised.” - David Ogilvy
“A brand is essentially a container for a customer’s complete experience with the product or company.” - Sergio Zyman
“The art of differentiation.” - David Brier
“Your Brand is Your Personality.” – Bloomberg BusinessWeek
“Your distinctive, indispensable attributes and value.” – Edwin Dearborn
The word “brand” comes from the Germanic root biernan, meaning, "burn." In commercial-market branding, it is all about product and service attributes that make a lasting impression in a consumer’s mind.
Among all these definitions, you may now have a clearer understanding of what a brand is, and what corporate America refers to when speaking about “branding.” As we look at the various integral factors that go into a brand, we can see that it goes way beyond logos and taglines. Yet, when most people speak about their branding they refer only to their logo, tagline and packaging, or to promotional items that feature their logo.
Breaking Down My Definition Further:
“Your Distinctive, Indispensable Attributes and Value.”
Distinctive - “Characteristic of one person or thing, and so serving to distinguish it from others.” n other words, what makes up your character? What are your core beliefs and personal ethos? Your personal or business brand must reflect what is genuinely characteristic about you, in that it clearly distinguishes you apart from others.
Indispensable – “1. Absolutely necessary; essential. 2. Incapable of being disregarded or neglected. 3. A person or thing that is indispensable.” A great brand is something or someone that is considered a “must be associated with, and/or obtained.” In someone’s life, possessing this brand has to be essential to their survival or quality of life in their estimation.
Attributes – “1. A quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of something or someone. 2. Something used as a symbol of a particular person, office or status.” For example, brands are often defined by a logo (Apple, Starbucks), a certain color (Tiffany & Co.) or even a distinctive sound (Harley-Davidson), among other ways.
Value – “1. The importance, worth, or usefulness of something. 2. Consider someone or something to be important or beneficial; have a high opinion of. 3. Monetary worth of something or someone.” Value is a term often abused by branding professionals and marketers, but the essence of value is the importance people place on something or someone. (More on Value in a later chapter) Your own value is directly proportional to how important you are in the lives of others.
Learn more about branding by purchasing my book, Power Branding Secrets.
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