What is a Brand?

Branding is not the same as marketing and to understand what makes them different, one must understand what a brand is.

A brand is not just an eye-catching logo or a name that is frequently advertised on TV. A brand is a promise, made with the customer and built up over time through consistent communication and delivery of that promise. Thus the very mention of the brand’s name should trigger a series of expectations not only about the product or the company – its quality, purpose, ease of use etc but any number of images and associations, which consumers can relate to, both emotionally and rationally.

A true brand has a meaning beyond functionality.

Thus, at the core of branding is the recognition that consumers make purchasing decisions based on both rational and emotional considerations –that they judge a products physical or personality characteristics as well as its functional ones. In other words they buy, not only because of what they know, but also how they feel – a bit like the way people choose to be friends.

“People do not usually choose their friends solely because of specific skills or physical attributes although such things can be very important. They usually choose them because in addition to the skills and physical characteristics, they simply like them as people. It is the total person that is chosen as a friend, not a compendium of virtues and vices. The choice and use of brands is the same”.
Stephen King, 1973

© Bradley McGurk