Brand

BrandA brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller’s good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in , , and 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 . Brand names are sometimes distinguished from or .
The practice of branding—in the original literal sense of marking by burning—is thought to have begun with the , who are known to have engaged in and branded slaves as early as 2,700 BCE. Branding was used to differentiate one person’s from another’s by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal’s skin with a hot . 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. It includes the voice and the tonality of the business. Over time, the practice of branding objects extended to a broader range of packaging and goods offered for sale including , , , and and, in the 21st century, extends even further into services (such as , and ), and (e.g. and ). Branding in terms of painting a cow with symbols or colors at 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 and communication techniques and tools that help to distinguish a or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting impression in the minds of . The key components that form a brand’s toolbox include a brand’s identity, personality, , brand communication (such as by and ), , , and various branding () 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 .
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 and , with side effects like reduced . A brand is, in essence, 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 , is most often the most valuable asset on a corporation’s . Brand owners manage their brands carefully to create . is a management technique that ascribes a 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 of the brand and managing for value.