Brand Definition

Q: What is a brand?

A: Any brand is a set of perceptions and images that represent a company, product or service. While many people refer to a brand as a logo, tag line or audio jingle, a brand is actually much larger. A brand is the essence or promise of what will be delivered or experienced.

Importantly, brands enable a buyer to easily identify the offerings of a particular company. Brands are generally developed over time through:

Advertisements containing consistent messaging
Recommendations from friends, family members or colleagues
Interactions with a company and its representatives
Real-life experiences using a product or service (generally considered the most important element of establishing a brand)

Once developed, brands provide an umbrella under which many different products can be offered--providing a company tremendous economic leverage and strategic advantage in generating awareness of their offerings in the marketplace.