14 Branding Terms Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Do you want to create a cool, reputable and well-known brand? Of course you do. But first, let’s brush up on the basics. Here’s a look at brand terminology you should become familiar with:

1. Brand

   A brand is a mixture of attributes, tangible and intangible that creates value and influence. “A distinguishing symbol, mark, logo, name, word, sentence or a combination of these items that companies use to distinguish their product from others in the market.” (Investopedia)

2. Brand Architecture

   The structure and names of brands within a portfolio. “Brand architecture is the logical, strategic and relational structure for your brands or put another way, it is the entity’s “family tree” of brands, sub-brands and named products.” (BSI) “All brand architecture strategies fall into one of two approaches, a branded house or a house of brands.” (Ervin & Smith)

3. Brand Equity

   “A brand’s power derived from the goodwill and name recognition that it has earned over time, which translates into higher sales volume and higher profit margins against competing brands.” (Business Dictionary) “Companies can create brand equity for their products by making them memorable, easily recognizable and superior in quality and reliability.” (Investopedia)

4. Brand Experience

   “A brand experience is a brand’s action perceived by a person. Every interaction between an individual and a tangible or intangible brand artefact can be seen as a brand experience.” (bxp) “Specifically, brand experience is conceptualized as sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli. Such stimuli appear as part of a brand’s design and identity, packaging, communications, and environments.” (AMA)

5. Brand Extension

   “A common method of launching a new product by using an existing brand name on a new product in a different category. A company using brand extension hopes to leverage its existing customer base and brand loyalty to increase its profits with a new product offering.” (Investopedia) “In theory, launching a successful brand extension should be easy. All you have to do is take a familiar name and slap it on a new product in another category. Then again, in view of history’s epic flops including Hooter’s Air, Colgate TV dinners and the Evian water-filled bra, perhaps it’s not that easy.” (AdAge)

6. Brand Identity

   “How a business wants a brand’s name, communication style, logo and other visual elements to be perceived by consumers… Brand identity is different than brand image, which is what consumers actually think. It is constructed by the business itself. ” (Investopedia)

7. Brand Image

   “A unique bundle of associations within the minds of target customers. It signifies what the brand presently stands for. It is a set of beliefs held about a specific brand. In short, it is nothing but the consumers’ perception about the product.” (MSG)

© YFS Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Copying prohibited. All material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited. Sharing of this material under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International terms, listed here, is permitted.