The Rise of Brands Essay

The definition of a brand has evolved over the years, giving it a variety of meanings. Williams (2000) defines it as ’a combination of names, slogans, logos, product design, packaging, advertising and marketing that together give particular products or services a physical, recognisable form’. Another definition describes a brand as ’a form of ’crystallised knowledge’ (Arvidsson 2005 p. 7). Brands can also use as a strategy to differentiate themselves from competitors, to potentially encourage the consumer to recognise and purchase their goods. Hart and Murphy (1998) points out that ’people have used brands and marks to distinguish products since the earliest times, dating back to 2000 BC’. According to research owners of cattle, slaves, timber and crockery would burn or brand they produce using markings or symbols, using a hot rod iron. The term branding originates from the Old Norse “Brand”, which means to burn (Kurtuldu, 2008).

According to Holt (2004), a brand can be defined as a term, name or a design that distinguishes product or service of one manufacturer from others. Brands are normally utilized in advertising, business and marketing. In accounting terms, brand is an intangible asset which is present within every organization. It is most valuable asset that is outlined in the balance sheet of a company. Brands owners need to effectively manage their brands in order to enhance shareholder value. Brand valuation is an important technique that associates money with a brand. Effective branding often results into high sales volumes of a particular product. A customer who prefers a brand is more likely to choose other products which are offered by the same brand. Brand can be stated as a personality that facilitates identification of a company, product or service. It even encompasses relation with other constituents like customers, partners, investors, staff, etc. Individuals distinguish psychological aspect of a brand from experimental

Remembering that a brand is more than simply a logo, this guide is offered to help you understand and develop not merely a symbolic brand, but rather a living brand that is

The article The Great Brand Controversy is written to display Lewis’ opinion of how brand names are losing popularity to a price driven economy. He supports his argument through

When consumers hear the word personal branding, they will automatically associated personal branding with corporate branding (Gail (2010), When a company has established a good reputation and have endurance longevity, customers will keep that company on their mind and not concern with a particular product.  For

The branded product at the heart of the SLP is the Ford Mustang. The Mustang was first introduced in 1964 and has become one of Ford's most iconic brands (Damian, 2006). Automobiles in general are a good subject for the study of branding because the car itself changes every year, but the brand does not. Over time, specific brands become associated with particular attributes, in terms of product category, positioning, price, and in the case of cars their styling, design and the lifestyle attributes that are associated with that vehicle. The Mustang has gone through roughly five iterations, and is currently in its fifth generation (Markus, 2010).

In 2000, Unilever decided to reduce 1,600 brands down to 400 and then select a small number of them to serve as “Masterbrands”. One of the reasons to have fewer brands is to decrease control issues. It is harder to manage so many brands, especially when each one has its own particularities. As Deighton pointed, Unilever’s brand portfolio had grown in a relatively laissez-faire manner. In other words, the company’s brands were created without large interference.

Since an increasing number of people focus on brand names instead of product, brands become important elements for customers to choose products (Carroll, 2008). When customers trust the brand, the benefits for the manufactures are generated. In the first place, brands can be used by products as the tool to identify and differentiate themselves from various products. Secondly, brands are helpful for companies to build a competitive advantage (Bick, 2009). Therefore, organisations take more attention to branding.

Consumerism and the effects of branding affect people’s lives. Branding allows consumers to easily identify which products are made by which companies. Yet, the brands create more of an influence on consumer’s lifestyles and in the end decide what kind of consumer that person is. Branding creates a blurred divide in our society. Consumers who are ore likely to purchase the branded products that are associated with better quality and higher prices are put into their own category bucket versus the consumers who choose the cheaper priced products that are made with less quality. When it comes to deciding who you are based off of the products and brands that you associate yourself with, it creates a capital divide in our society. Consumers than associate brands with personal feelings based upon whether or not they associate themselves with those brands. Lives of consumers are heavily influenced. Their lives are worse off when they feel the need to ‘keep up’ with brands in order to feel as if they are portraying themselves in the best light. In a way, this is similar to how all of branding began with livestock. Consumers want to physically brand themselves with specific brands by wearing logos and identifying with a brand. They might not be burning the brands directly onto their skin but they are burning the brands onto their clothes and burning holes in their wallets to keep up with society standards about brands.

1. A brief history of the brand: origins, key stages in its growth , etc.

The word ‘brand’ is derived from the Old Norse word brander, which means to ‘burn by fire.

Although brands do not solely refer to businesses and their products or services (e.g. charities, countries, celebrities), this essay will discuss their relevance to profits with regards to business operations unless specified. Where most companies must at some point make a decision (consciously or unconsciously) whether to brand their company or not, that question is often rhetorical. Brands are established whether the marketing manager says they should or not. The decision really is whether to implement conscious brand management within the business or not. That is the difference between a strong brands and weak brands. Where

In this research paper, I have included the importance of branding in the strategy of the company. Branding theory and practice evolved in the latest years, being considered a valuable marketing investment. Branding is essential in creating value for the products of a company. Branding is important because it gives meaning to the consumption process. Companies understood that selling without the presence of a strong brand is much more difficult. I realized an intersection of the branding and marketing strategy theories. Branding can be regarded as a tool that can enforce all resources of a company towards implementing the strategy.

"The name is composed of the title by which the company, product, or service is commonly known and the graphic forms of identification, including symbols, logotypes or signatures, tag lines, and representative characters" (Roman G. Hiebing Jr and Scott W. Cooper; The successful marketing plan, a disciplined and comprehensive approach; 2003).

In recent times, branding has played a pivotal role in some brands’ success. This has been made possible through the ability of some marketers to capture the essence and minds of people (consumers), and put the trends and characteristics into the personality of a brand. Customers have always found ways to identify themselves with certain products, and on several occasions, branding campaigns