Branding: The Talk Of The Town

THEORITICAL BACKGROUND

3.1 Introduction

Branding is the talk of the town. Conglomerates spend millions on planning and implementing brand activities. New survey is published and contexts are developed on a daily basis in the effort to find the holy grail of brand management. Since the mid-80s, in general, researchers and specialists alike have explored the domain, scope and latent of the brand. Many different concepts, theoretical agendas and ideas have seen the light of day and, as a result, a wide band of different perspectives on how a brand ought to be conceptualized and managed is in play today

In consumer marketing, brands often provide the main points of differentiation between rivalry offerings, and as such they can be precarious

Often that depends on the speculative background of the author/originator of the different definitions. In the classical definition, the brand is linked to the proof of identity of a product and the differentiation from its competitors, through the use of a certain name, logo, design or other visual signs and symbols. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defined the brand in 1960 as: A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them which is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

Brand architecture

Brand architecture is the arrangement that organizes the brand portfolio. It defines brand roles and relationships among a company’s brands, e.g. the role between a car brand and the model brand (as in Volkswagen Golf). Some houses choose to communicate the corporate brand to the market while others choose to market product brands to precise segments and keep the corporate brand in the background. According to Olin’s (1990) brand architecture can be structured in three main ways.

Brand

Brand communities take place in Internet-based settings, in geographically assured clubs, and at so-called brand fests (social gatherings arranged by the marketer). The appearance of brand communities implies a shift in negotiation power between marketer and consumer as consumers claim more power when acting in groups

Brand culture

Brand culture is a term that has been progressively used over the last few years. It sometimes refers to the structural culture of the brand and sometimes to the brand as part of the broader cultural landscape

Brand equity

Basically, the goal for any brand manager is to provide products and/or services with brand equity. Brand equity defines the value of the brand and can refer to two considerations of brand value, namely a strategic, subjective understanding or brand equity as a financial, objective expression of the value of the brand.

Brand