The concept of brand ---------------brand names q.

1 meaning of brand , variables of brand, history, brand name, expanding role of brand, and importance of brand? Meaning of brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name." A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word branding began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity it affects the personality of a product, company or service. A concept brand is a brand that is associated with an abstract concept, like breast cancer awareness or environmentalism, rather than a specific product, service, or business. A commodity brand is a brand associated with a commodity. Got milk? is an example of a commodity brand. In the automotive industry, brands were originally called marques, and marque is still often used as a synonym for brand in reference to motor vehicles. The word "brand" is sometimes used as a metonym, referring to a company that is strongly identified with a brand.

Variables of brand
The following elements may differ from country to country:

Corporate slogan Products and services Product names Product features Positionings Marketing mixes (including pricing, distribution, media and advertising execution)

These differences will depend upon:

Language differences Different styles of communication Other cultural differences Differences in category and brand development Different consumption patterns Different competitive sets and marketplace conditions Different legal and regulatory environments Different national approaches to marketing (media, pricing, distribution, etc.)

History
The word "brand" is derived from the Old Norse brandr meaning "to burn." It refers to the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products. Although connected with the history of trademarks and including earlier examples which could be deemed "protobrands" (such as the marketing puns of the "Vesuvinum" wine jars found at Pompeii), brands in the field of mass-marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent of packaged goods. Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories. When shipping their items, the factories would literally brand their logo or insignia on the barrels used, extending the meaning of "brand" to that of trademark. Bass & Company, the British brewery, claims their red triangle brand was the world's first trademark. Lyles Golden Syrup makes a similar claim, having been named as Britain's oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. Another example comes from Antiche Fornaci Giorgi in Italy, whose bricks are stamped or carved with the same proto-logo since 1731, as found in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Cattle were branded long before this. The term "maverick," originally meaning an unbranded calf, comes from Texas rancher Samuel Augustus Maverick who, following the American Civil War, decided that since all other cattle were branded, his would be identified by having no markings at all. Even the signatures on paintings of famous artists like Leonardo Da Vinci can be viewed as an early branding tool. Factories established during the Industrial Revolution introduced mass-produced goods and needed to sell their products to a wider market, to customers previously familiar only with locally-produced goods. It quickly became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products. The packaged goods manufacturers needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Campbell soup, Coca-Cola, Juicy Fruit gum, Aunt Jemima, and Quaker Oats were among the first products to be 'branded', in an effort to increase the

consumer's familiarity with their products. Many brands of that era, such as Uncle Ben's rice and Kellogg's breakfast cereal furnish illustrations of the problem. Around 1900, James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we now know as branding. Companies soon adopted slogans, mascots, and jingles that began to appear on radio and early television. By the 1940s, manufacturers began to recognize the way in which consumers were developing relationships with their brands in a social/psychological/anthropological sense. From there, manufacturers quickly learned to build their brand's identity and personality (see brand identity and brand personality), such as youthfulness, fun or luxury. This began the practice we now know as "branding" today, where the consumers buy "the brand" instead of the product. This trend continued to the 1980s, and is now quantified in concepts such as brand value and brand equity. Naomi Klein has described this development as "brand equity mania".In 1988, for example, Philip Morris purchased Kraft for six times what the company was worth on paper; it was felt that what they really purchased was its brand name.

Brand name
The brand name is quite often used interchangeably with "brand", although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of any product. In this context a "brand name" constitutes a type of trademark, if the brand name exclusively identifies the brand owner as the commercial source of products or services. A brand owner may seek to protect proprietary rights in relation to a brand name through trademark registration and such trademarks are called "Registered Trademarks". Advertising spokespersons have also become part of some brands, for example: Mr. Whipple of Charmin toilet tissue and Tony the Tiger of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. Local branding is usually done by the consumers rather than the producers.
Types of brand names

Brand names come in many styles. A few include: Acronym: A name made of initials such as UPS or IBM Descriptive: Names that describe a product benefit or function like Whole Foods or Airbus Alliteration and rhyme: Names that are fun to say and stick in the mind like Reese's Pieces or Dunkin' Donuts Evocative: Names that evoke a relevant vivid image like Amazon or Crest Neologisms: Completely made-up words like Wii or Kodak Foreign word: Adoption of a word from another language like Volvo or Samsung

Founders' names: Using the names of real people,and founder's name like HewlettPackard or Disney Geography: Many brands are named for regions and landmarks like Cisco and Fuji Film Personification: Many brands take their names from myth like Nike or from the minds of ad execs like Betty Crocker The act of associating a product or service with a brand has become part of pop culture. Most products have some kind of brand identity, from common table salt to designer jeans. A brandnomer is a brand name that has colloquially become a generic term for a product or service, such as Band-Aid or Kleenex, which are often used to describe any brand of adhesive bandage or any brand of facial tissue respectively.

Expanding role of brand

it was meant to make identifying and differentiating a product easier. Over time, brands came to embrace a performance or benefit promise, for the product, certainly, but eventually also for the company behind the brand. Today, brand plays a much bigger role. Brands have been co-opted as powerful symbols in larger debates about economics, social issues, and politics. The power of brands to communicate a complex message quickly and with emotional impact and the ability of brands to attract media attention, make them ideal tools in the hands of activists.

Importance of brand
branding is a very powerful component in business. The brand must have a logo to make branding easier and more possible. The consumers decide if they will buy a product or use a service based on how they view the brand. The brand itself tells us or let us imagine how good or bad the product is even if we never tasted it before! All that brand promotion and advertising really do tell us how great a brand can be (like Nike). Once a customer likes your brand he/she will definitely come back for repeated services or products. The qualities of the product or services are ensured through the customers minds from the brand image. Brand is not only convenient for businesses for repeated customer purchase but also easier for customers to filter out the countless generic items. Brand gives consumers the reason to buy it and wastes less time for consumer to choose. There are ways to improve a brand from advertising such as viral campaign (more trustworthy), online ads, print ads and commercials. Another way is to improve your product or services that will reinforce the brand. This is a good way to promote your brand by always being in the cutting edge or customers first image.

The qualities of your products and services will reinforce the brand. Advertise as much as possible to spread that message and make it into a cult brand. Branding doesnt only benefit the business but you as well (yes I mean it). The brand you choose reflects who you are and expresses yourself on what you like to do and be able to join the community of like minded people. Branding is a win: win situation for both the businesses and the loyal customers.

Brand Characteristics
The world is rapidly shrinking with the advent of faster communication, transportation and financial flows. Products developed in one country Mont Blanc pens, McDonalds, BMWs are finding enthusiastic acceptance in other countries. A German businessman may wear an Armani suit to meet an English friend at an Indian restaurant who later returns home to drink Russian vodka and watch an American soap on a Korean television. There are different aspects or levels of a brand, may it be of a product or service which attract customers to build an image and an idea about that product or service. There may be various viewpoints through which a person may perceive the brand in a particular way. Lets take Mercedes Benz for example: Attributes: Mercedes suggests expensive, well-built, well-engineered, durable, high prestige, high value, fast and so on. The company may use one or more of the attributes to advertise the car. For years, Mercedes advertised Engineered like no other car in the world. This tagline served as a positioning platform for the cars other attributes. Benefits: Customers are not buying attributes, they are buying benefits. Attributes need to be translated into emotional and functional benefit, I am safe in case of an accident. Values: The brand also says something about the producers values. Thus Mercedes stands for high performance, safety, prestige and so on. The brand marketer must figure out the specific groups of car buyers who are seeking these values. Culture: The brand may represent a certain culture. The Mercedes represents German culture: organized, efficient, high quality. Personality: The brand can also project a certain personality. If the brand were a person, an animal, or an object, what would come to mind? Mercedes may suggest a no-nonsense boss (person), a reigning lion (animal), or an austere palace (object). Sometimes it might take on the personality of an actual well-known person or spokesperson.

User: The brand suggests the kind of consumer who buys or uses the product. We would be surprised to see a 20-year-old secretary driving a Mercedes. We would accept instead to see a 55 year-old top executive behind the wheel. The users will be those who respect the products values, culture and personality.

Types of brand
1. Manufacturer brands Manufacturer brands are created by producers and bear their chosen brand name. The producer is responsible for marketing the brand. The brand is owned by the producer. By building their brand names, manufacturers can gain widespread distribution (for example by retailers who want to sell the brand) and build customer loyalty (think about the manufacturer brands that you feel loyal to). 2.Own label brands Own-label brands are created and owned by businesses that operate in the distribution channel often referred to as distributors. Often these distributors are retailers, but not exclusively. Sometimes the retailers entire product range will be own-label. However, more often, the distributor will mix own-label and manufacturers brands. The major supermarkets (e.g. Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys) are excellent examples of this. Own-label branding if well carried out can often offer the consumer excellent value for money and provide the distributor with additional bargaining power when it comes to negotiating prices and terms with manufacturer brands. 3.Generic brands of consumer products (often supermarket goods) are distinguished by the absence of a brand name. It is often inaccurate to describe these products as "lacking a brand name", as they usually are branded, albeit with either the brand of the store in which they are sold or a lesser-known brand name which may not be aggressively advertised to the public. They are identified more by product characteristics. They may be manufactured by less prominent companies, or manufactured on the same production line as a 'named' brand. Generic brands are usually priced below those products sold by supermarkets under their own brand (frequently referred to as "store brands" or "own brands"). Generally they imitate these more expensive brands, competing on price. Generic brand products are often of equal quality as a branded

product; however, the quality may change suddenly in either direction with no change in the packaging if the supplier for the product changes. 4.Private branding is when a large distribution channel member (usually a retailer), buys from a manufacturer in bulk and puts its own name on the product. This strategy is, with some exceptions, generally only practical when the retailer does very high levels of volume. The advantages to the retailer are:

more freedom and flexibility in pricing more control over product attributes and quality higher margins (or lower selling price) eliminates much of the manufacturer's promotional costs

The advantages to the manufacturer are:

reduced promotional costs stability of sales volume (at least while the contract is operative)

5.captive brand Even though store brands have lost much of the stigma they held 10 or 20 years ago as cheap knock-offs, there is still a certain level of negativity surrounding them. Apparently, the negative brand impression was strong enough that companies like WalMart, CVS and Walgreens are now calling them captive brands in an attempt to make them more palatable to a broader audience. Retailers make more money selling their own brands then they do selling products from other companies, so it makes sense that a push to rebrand store brands is a popular new trend thats catching on quickly. Manufacturers are noticing that the rebranding effort is working as captive brands slowly steal market share from brands that once controlled the vast majority of categories on retail shelves. Of course, its the retailers who decide how much shelf space to give to each brand, so it makes sense to create competitive captive branded products. If those captive brand products are positioned well within a category in terms of brand messaging and image, then those products have a good chance of stealing market share from the competitive products. Once customers make the switch, are satisfied after the switch and become loyal to a product within the captive brand line, chances are theyll try another and spread the word.

The ultimate goal for captive brands, as with any brand, is to create brand loyalists and brand advocates who will influence others to try the brand as well thereby slowly chipping away at market share. As captive brand awareness, recognition, trial and repeat purchase increases, the retailer naturally chooses to increase shelf space for the captive brand at the expense of competitor brands. Its no wonder why companies like WalMart, CVS and Walgreens are investing time, money and resources in expanding captive brand product lines. The first categories to feel the pinch from captive brands are those that tend to be overfilled with a myriad of brands and product choices such as health and beauty. Captive brands are taking shelf space not so much from the most popular brands at this point but from the smaller, less popular brands. Therefore, the number of branded products is shrinking as much of the existing shelf space shifts to the captive brand from a variety of smaller brands. Walgreens even went so far as to create a Brand Police team who works to ensure every captive brand-related product and initiative appropriately conveys the overall brand image and drives ROI. 6.Family branding is a marketing strategy that involves selling several related products under one brand name. Family branding is also known as umbrella branding. It contrasts with individual product branding, in which each product in a portfolio is given a unique brand name and identity. There are often economies of scope associated with family branding since several products can be efficiently promoted with a single advertisement or campaign. Family branding facilitates new product introductions by evoking a familiar brand name, which can lead to trial purchase, product acceptance, or other advantages. Family branding imposes on the brand owner a greater burden to maintain consistent quality. If the quality of one product in the brand family is compromised, it could impact on the reputation of all the others. For this reason family branding is generally limited to product lines that consist of products of similar quality. 7. Individual brands Individual branding, also called individual product branding or multibranding, is the marketing strategy of giving each product in a portfolio its own unique brand name. This contrasts with family branding, corporate branding, and umbrella branding in which the products in a product line are given a single overarching brand name. The advantage of individual branding is that each product has an image and identity that is unique. This

facilitates the positioning of each product, by allowing a firm to position its brands differently. Examples of individual product branding include Procter & Gamble, which markets multiple brands such as Pampers, and Unilever, which markets individual brands such as Dove.

Family branding vs. individual branding strategies

The greater a company's brand equity, the greater the probability that the company will use a family branding strategy rather than an individual branding strategy. This is because family branding allows them to leverage the equity accumulated in the core brand. Aspects of brand equity include: brand loyalty, awareness, association , and perception of quality.

Brand Name Development What makes a winning brand name?

A great brand name is one of the most powerful forces in branding, marketing and advertising. It is at once the story about what makes you different from your competitors and the emotional tug that connects you with your audienceall in one or a few words. A brand name that wields that much power can only come through a powerful positioning strategyone that keys in on the kind of appeal that can touch the hearts and minds of your market in a way the world may have never seen. A great brand name can do this and own the talk of an industry. As you can see, theres quite bit in a brand name. Brand names have so much riding on themway too much to leave to already overworked brains of a few employees, tossing around ideas at lunch or entering a contest, as many companies like to approach naming. Those people simply dont have enough time to take into account the many things that must be considered when developing a brand name, such as: comprehension, memorability, ease of pronunciation, negative and positive associations, competitors, trademarks and domain name possibilities. These are just a few reasons smart companies that need a brand name turn to naming professionals, like Brand Identity Guru Inc., for guidance. Communicating brand strategy is key to a great brand name. Words project both meaning and feeling. Your brand name should communicate in a way that fits your overall brand strategy, whether thats straightforward functionality (PowerBook) or more emotional (Carnival Cruise lines and their FunShips). If it does,

every time somebody mentions the name, its an advertisementone you didnt have to pay for. Great brand names roll off the tongue. The sound of the spoken name, regardless of what it means, is a big consideration for brand names. An easy-to-understand pronunciation translates across languages and is more likely to be remembered. Like the last puzzle piece, a good brand name fits right in. Most established companies (not start-ups) have a set roster of corporate nomenclature for products, processes and services. Any good brand name is going to build on that naming culture. Not to do so would squander an opportunity to bring even more value and strength to that culture and the overall brand.

A great brand name is the ambassador of your company. It introduces and characterizes a company to its customers and to the public at large. It also helps differentiate a companys offerings from the competitions. As a registered trademark, a great brand name will make these kinds of impressions an official part of a company with actual value on a balance sheet. How to pinpoint a good brand naming firm. The most mission-critical aspect of naming a company, product or brand is not the name itself. It is the strategic positioning behind that name. Any professional brand naming company worth its salt knows this and practices it. A good naming firm can tug heartstrings with their work. A company name is, in essence, a promisea testament to what a customer can expect from the product or service behind the name. Isnt the point of any promise to establish a connection of trust and loyalty from one entity to another? A great brand name can do just that. Listening for quality and quality. There are two kinds of qualities a great brand name must have. It must be both strategically sound and linguistically appealing in all the right ways. In other words, the market must gravitate to how the name said and what it says. Creativity is not just importantits a necessity.

Creativity, unfortunately, gives way to practicality and feasibility. Consider this: over 260,000 trademark applications were filed in the United States in 2003 and over 98 percent of the dictionary is registered as a dot com. What does that tell you? That all the obvious names are taken, and that its going to take some real creative muscle to come up with something no one else has thought of. A great naming firm should challenge a client. What the target market thinks of a name is way more important than the opinion of any marketing, branding, advertising or naming guru (even us). Thats why good naming firms utilize cutting-edge research methodologies that give the market the final say on a name choice. Weve developed such research called the Brand-Aid?. The Brand-Aid? is dedicated to developing proper positioning in the marketplace; click here for the BrandAid? research. No naming project is ever identical. Theres no set formula to arrive at a winner. The only thing you can really control is the kind of work you do to come up with a name. If you do the right kind of work, youll likely come up that one special word or phrase. Brand Identity Guru Inc. knows what the right kind of work is and has the skills necessary to follow through on that work. Hence, our motto, Pump Up Your Brand.

Whats in a brand name? Everything.

When it comes to developing winning brand names, Brand Identity Guru Inc. has no equal. Were well versed in both the poetic and scientific side of the process. We start by listening closely to our clients and analyzing every detail of their businesses, markets and competition. Then, we create a numerous list of candidates and take from that a small handful of possibilities we, and our clients, think have the it factor. The result has consistently been a hard-hitting, brand-driving solution that moves the hearts and minds of a companys target audience. To give you an idea of how wed likely approach your brand name needwhether it be for a company, product or serviceheres an outline of whats in our arsenal:

Analytical survey of the competition. We will completely comb through the entire range of your competitors to determine which brand names and product names are a hit with your market. This information will help the naming team determine the positioning strategy of your brand name. Positioning. Heres where a great deal of the heavy lifting will happen. Well help you hone in on your brands core values and create a foundation of understanding and ideas from which a winning brand name will come. Name conceptualization. Proper name development begins by taking the positioning strategy and exploring it from multiple angles and analyzing how you

intend to use it in your marketing, advertising and branding efforts. Then, well start creating name options. Trademark. If youd like well screen promising name possibilities through our trademark law firm to determine the feasibility of using them as brand names. This step is to help you by preventing costly lost time that might occur if your company warms up to a certain name only to find it cant be used when you try to register it. Creative mockups. A standard component of our naming service is creating conceptual marketing materials that feature promising name ideas. This could include ad treatments, graphical layouts and stories to give you an idea of your future with this brand name. Final deliverable. Youll get a short list of final, legally feasible names along with an in-depth positioning strategy for each.

brand values
Definition
The premium that accrues to a brand from customers who are willing to pay extra for it. Brand Value: Who determines it and how?

Part 1: Introduction

On a recent trip snowboarding, a friend told me that he thought marketing was an illreputed profession. Apparently, all we try to do is make people unhappy with their current situation, and he could only understand that as being a very bad thing. It made me think, are we all really such bad, manipulative people? I think that my friend's ennui was getting the better of him; his glass was half-empty. In other words, he was taking a negative view of what happens between a company and a customer in a marketing situation. I eventually came to the realisation that each person in the market actually wants to form a relationship with a company, even if it is only a trivial purchase. That relationship is formed with what we call the brand, and different people will develop a different type of relationship with your brand. The market subconsciously assesses the value of your brand to them, and they will develop opinions about everything they experience related to that brand. Branding is all about making sure that your people will create a positive experience, backing them up with quality processes and technology, and then measuring the results remembering that whatever gets measured, will be improved next time. It is easy to understand that this kind of seamless experience with your brand will produce good results, but you don't decide what a seamless experience consists of, the market does.

We are not interested in formulating the brand here, what we want to do is state how you can measure how the market interprets that brand experience. All you do is put your brand out there, and the market affirms, 'I believe what you tell me about yourself!' resulting in alignment with your brand. Otherwise, it is merely hypothesis, and you gain minimal benefit as a result. We can compare the concept of having a strong or weak relationship between a person and a brand to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. As we progress up the pyramid, a stronger relationship is created because of derived preference. That is, preference for your brand is derived from the experience that person creates in their mind. What your brand actually is, is only a small part of the equation. You really need to understand how your brand is perceived, and address any discrepancies between the two. If someone expects to receive more value than they actually do, the chances are good that they will be disappointed in the purchase, and be left with a negative brand experience. Needless to say, that is an outcome that is probably not desired by any company.

The lower levels of the needs pyramid let us measure the impact of the message using typical media measures such as reach and recall. These measures demonstrate the ability of your agency to achieve the objectives that you set out for them, and should be used as a platform for moving onto achieve synergy with the minds of the market. As we try to move further up the pyramid we have to start paying more attention to what our customers believe, compared to what non-customers perceive. Because we are now measuring market attitudes, the main driver of any marketing communications, or shift in marketing strategy, should be a response to solid evidence gained from measuring the value that the market is placing on our brand.

Brands - How Much Are They Worth? Brand values

We frequently refer to 'brand values' as if everyone knows what we mean. It is assumed that there is a general understanding that a brand stands for something and what it stands for must have a value. These values can be critically important or small inconsequential things but above all they are the things which give the brand its worth and differentiate it from all others. Through these brand values a product or service is enhanced beyond its functional purpose. In this context the brand provides the consumer with more value and this is why they are prepared to pay a premium to acquire it.

Brand Values and Cash Value

Various studies have been carried out in consumer markets to determine the premium that people will pay for brands over and above a base line. Assessing the value of intangibles by asking consumers to separate out the brand and place a monetary value on it is difficult because this is not what we do in the real world. In fact, most consumers, when asked to place a monetary value on brands, are in denial about paying a premium just for the name. That is for all the other mugs, not for me. That said, when people are asked to place a monetary value on a car (the same car is used in the photographs but different badges are superimposed on the bonnet to suggest it is a different brand) the Volkswagen brand is seen to be worth more than that of Ford while the Mercedes brand has a value above both. In each case, the brand is seen to be worth around 10 per cent of the retail value of the car. We now want to consider the value of brands in another context - that of a companys monetary worth if sold on the open market and how this value can be estimated even when disposal is not anticipated. At the outset it is important to draw a distinction between individual brands owned by a company (e.g. Kit-Kat) and a brand which is also the a company name (eg Speedy Hire).

Goodwill and the Value of Brands

When a company is sold, it seeks to obtain a value over and beyond that of its tangible assets. Historically this has been referred to as `goodwill' and was taken to mean the value of the loyalty of the firm's customers. This is an interesting concept as loyalty is an important component of branding - so already it is clear that there is a strong link between goodwill and brands. After all, a good brand is one which customers insist on by name and for which they are prepared to pay a premium. This loyalty would have a value

if the brand was ever sold. Accountants are now refining their views of goodwill and accept that it extends beyond loyalty. On these grounds goodwill is taken to include other intangibles which enable a company to earn `super profits' or those profits over and above what could be expected from the tangible assets of the company alone. This concept of goodwill is important as it signifies that it is an asset, namely something which an organisation controls and which will provide future benefits. The asset of goodwill can be realised by the sale of a company but its very existence implies that it can also be assessed at any time and given an internal valuation - this view departs from the traditional approach which crystallised goodwill only at the time of sale. Firms have a collection of intangible assets in the form of people (key personnel such as a skilled workforce, managers, scientists), special company procedures, distribution agreements (which keep the product in and the competition out) and patents (which give a product protection over a finite number of years). All these intangible assets have a value and in theory at least could be assessed within goodwill. In practice it is only aspects of goodwill such as patents that have been readily separated out for valuation. But other intangibles can in theory be separated out and one of relevance to this discussion is brands. The recognition of brands as an asset to the company is not new to firms making consumer products but, hitherto, it has been largely ignored by industrial companies. In effect there has been a failure of industrial companies to recognise that brands do have a value, including the possibility that they also have a value on the balance sheet. However, as already mentioned, that the company name and brand are often one and the same in industrial markets, presents additional difficulties. Internal valuations of goodwill are the subject of some contention in accountancy circles. Conventionally, it has been accepted that goodwill is something which only arises when a business is sold and until this happens the value of goodwill is not included in balance sheet assets. In this view, goodwill is the difference between the price paid for the business and the value of its net assets at that time. This view recognises three components to goodwill. Two of them are of little importance to us here. The first includes any benefits which the company possesses, perhaps because it has a monopoly position or because it occupies a particular niche which others would find difficult to enter for legal or technical reasons. The second component arises from the fact that accountants find it difficult to precisely value all the identifiable assets and so there will be some over or under valuation which enters into the equation. It is in the third component of goodwill, the value of separately identifiable intangible assets, that our interest lies as it is here that any value attached to brands would fit - but so too would any value that could be recognised in a company's distribution routes, key personnel or

customer lists. Up to recently, all these things have been lumped together as it has been deemed too difficult if not impossible to separate them from each other and the other components of goodwill.

Assessing the Value of Brands

Over the last few years there have been many listings of the value of brands. One of the most famous is carried out by Interbrand for the journal, Business Week. This annual survey of the worlds top 100 brands assess brand values on a variety of issues such as strategic brand management, marketing budget allocation, marketing ROI, portfolio management, brand extensions, M&A, balance sheet recognition, licensing, transfer pricing and investor relations. No one is surprised that Coca-Cola is a leader but it is more difficult to see how Cisco has a brand value greater than Honda. I show the results from the 2009 survey in the table below. The Top 20 World Brands From The Interbrand/Business Week Rankings For 2009 Brand Rank Brand Name 2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Coca-Cola IBM Microsoft GE Nokia McDonald's Google Toyota Intel Disney Brand Value ($ billion) 69 60 57 48 45 32 32 31 31 28

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Hewlett-Packard Mercedes-Benz Gillette Cisco BMW Louis Vuitton Marlboro Honda Samsung Apple

24 24 23 22 22 21 19 18 18 15

The reason the valuation of brands becomes contentious is that brands are increasingly being recognised as an asset and their value is being included in company balance sheets. In other words they were given special status and not treated as part of the goodwill. Grand Metropolitan was one of the first companies to recognise this potential when, in August 1988, it arrived at an assessment of 565 million in respect of the brands, such as Smirnoff Vodka, it had acquired during the previous three years. This was followed shortly in November of that same year by Rank Hovis McDougall who capitalised its internally created brands, (ie not ones which had ever been purchased for cash) such as Bisto, Hovis and Mr Kipling, placing a value on them of 678 million. The significance of this act can be seen when it is set against the company's net assets at the time which were only around 300 million. In the case of RHM or Cadbury Schweppes it is easy for us to see how one of the brands could be spun off and sold to another company without any disturbance to customers. As long as the brand continues to deliver the same qualities in terms of the product and its surround, most customers will not care who owns the factory. But what of a situation where the brand is the company, as in many business-to-business or industrial firms? Here the brand and the company are intertwined and because they are inseparable, one cannot easily be sold without the other.

Problems of Capitalising the Value of Brands

Brands are vulnerable in being dependent on such intangibles as people's perceptions of them. Building these perceptions can take many years as reputations are earned by repeated proof that a brand justifies its position. The perceptions can, however, be destroyed overnight. Perrier's reputation took an embarrassing blow in 1990 when a North Carolina study reported having found benzene in the water. Source Perrier shifted from explanation to explanation on the issue, finally stating that it was an isolated incident of a worker having made a mistake in the filtering procedure and that the spring itself was completely unpolluted. The incident was the cause of the recall of 160 million bottles of Perrier. Imagine that you were in the process of buying Perrier at the time; it would surely have caused you to want to knock a few pound of its price. The capitalisation of a company's brand value on the balance sheet is therefore contentious as it requires the brand to be separated out from the other intangibles and, as in the case of the Perrier problem, the brand value can melt away quickly. So, whether or not the value of a brand can be separately assessed realistically, remains a problem of confirming or reassessing its value each year. Similar problems face accountants in the valuation of other assets such as property (whose value can also fluctuate). The difference in the case of brands is the lack of an efficient market for them. The procedures and practices of valuation in this area are not yet agreed.

Keep Building the Brand - But it ay not be Time to Capitalise Yet

Brands clearly have a value to the companies which own them; the business is worth more because of the position of the brand in its market. As we have seen, the value of a brand has traditionally been regarded as part of goodwill (the extra worth of a business over and above the value of physical assets) and accountants have only valued this at the time a business is sold - up to then it does not appear on the balance sheet - at least in business-to-business or industrial companies. In recent years some major consumer brands have been capitalised - a value has been put on the brand and included as a balance sheet asset of the company owning the brand. Various approaches to measuring brand value have developed but are not as yet standardised. Problems remain, including that brand worth can fluctuate quickly (eg as the result of some marketing disaster). We have seen that in many industrial markets there is additional complication to valuing brands; the brand and the company name are often the same. Although, arguably, the two can be separated conceptually, how or whether this should be done in practice is as yet uncertain. It shouldn't however, stop us building those brands and keep adding value (whatever that may be).

Brand Equity
A brand is a name or symbol used to identify the source of a product. When developing a new product, branding is an important decision. The brand can add significant value when it is well recognized and has positive associations in the mind of the consumer. This concept is referred to as brand equity.

What is Brand Equity?

Brand equity is an intangible asset that depends on associations made by the consumer. There are at least three perspectives from which to view brand equity:

Financial - One way to measure brand equity is to determine the price premium that a brand commands over a generic product. For example, if consumers are willing to pay $100 more for a branded television over the same unbranded television, this premium provides important information about the value of the brand. However, expenses such as promotional costs must be taken into account when using this method to measure brand equity. Brand extensions - A successful brand can be used as a platform to launch related products. The benefits of brand extensions are the leveraging of existing brand awareness thus reducing advertising expenditures, and a lower risk from the perspective of the consumer. Furthermore, appropriate brand extensions can enhance the core brand. However, the value of brand extensions is more difficult to quantify than are direct financial measures of brand equity. Consumer-based - A strong brand increases the consumer's attitude strength toward the product associated with the brand. Attitude strength is built by experience with a product. This importance of actual experience by the customer implies that trial samples are more effective than advertising in the early stages of

building a strong brand. The consumer's awareness and associations lead to perceived quality, inferred attributes, and eventually, brand loyalty. Strong brand equity provides the following benefits:

Facilitates a more predictable income stream. Increases cash flow by increasing market share, reducing promotional costs, and allowing premium pricing. Brand equity is an asset that can be sold or leased.

However, brand equity is not always positive in value. Some brands acquire a bad reputation that results in negative brand equity. Negative brand equity can be measured by surveys in which consumers indicate that a discount is needed to purchase the brand over a generic product.

Building and Managing Brand Equity

In his 1989 paper, Managing Brand Equity, Peter H. Farquhar outlined the following three stages that are required in order to build a strong brand: 1. Introduction - introduce a quality product with the strategy of using the brand as a platform from which to launch future products. A positive evaluation by the consumer is important. 2. Elaboration - make the brand easy to remember and develop repeat usage. There should be accessible brand attitude, that is, the consumer should easily remember his or her positive evaluation of the brand. 3. Fortification - the brand should carry a consistent image over time to reinforce its place in the consumer's mind and develop a special relationship with the consumer. Brand extensions can further fortify the brand, but only with related products having a perceived fit in the mind of the consumer.

Alternative Means to Brand Equity

Building brand equity requires a significant effort, and some companies use alternative means of achieving the benefits of a strong brand. For example, brand equity can be borrowed by extending the brand name to a line of products in the same product category or even to other categories. In some cases, especially when there is a perceptual connection between the products, such extensions are successful. In other cases, the extensions are unsuccessful and can dilute the original brand equity. Brand equity also can be "bought" by licensing the use of a strong brand for a new product. As in line extensions by the same company, the success of brand licensing is not guaranteed and must be analyzed carefully for appropriateness.

Managing Multiple Brands

Different companies have opted for different brand strategies for multiple products. These strategies are:

Single brand identity - a separate brand for each product. For example, in laundry detergents Procter & Gamble offers uniquely positioned brands such as Tide, Cheer, Bold, etc. Umbrella - all products under the same brand. For example, Sony offers many different product categories under its brand. Multi-brand categories - Different brands for different product categories. Campbell Soup Company uses Campbell's for soups, Pepperidge Farm for baked goods, and V8 for juices. Family of names - Different brands having a common name stem. Nestle uses Nescafe, Nesquik, and Nestea for beverages.

Brand equity is an important factor in multi-product branding strategies.

Protecting Brand Equity

The marketing mix should focus on building and protecting brand equity. For example, if the brand is positioned as a premium product, the product quality should be consistent with what consumers expect of the brand, low sale prices should not be used compete, the distribution channels should be consistent with what is expected of a premium brand, and the promotional campaign should build consistent associations. Finally, potentially dilutive extensions that are inconsistent with the consumer's perception of the brand should be avoided. Extensions also should be avoided if the core brand is not yet sufficiently strong.

Brand equity
Brand equity is strategically crucial, but famously difficult to quantify. Many experts have developed tools to analyze this asset, but there is no universally accepted way to measure it. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, only 26 percent responded that they found the "brand equity" metric very useful. Brand equity is the marketing effects and outcomes that accrue to a product with its brand name compared with those that would accrue if the same product did not have the brand name. Fact of the well-known brand name is that, the company can sometimes charge premium prices from the consumer . And, at the root of these marketing effects is consumers' knowledge. In other words, consumers' knowledge about a brand makes manufacturers and advertisers respond differently or adopt appropriately adept measures

for the marketing of the brand. The study of brand equity is increasingly popular as some marketing researchers have concluded that brands are one of the most valuable assets a company has. Brand equity is one of the factors which can increase the financial value of a brand to the brand owner, although not the only one. Elements that can be included in the valuation of brand equity include (but not limited to): changing market share, profit margins, consumer recognition of logos and other visual elements, brand language associations made by consumers, consumers' perceptions of quality and other relevant brand values.

Purpose
The purpose of brand equity metrics is to measure the value of a brand. A brand encompasses the name, logo, image, and perceptions that identify a product, service, or provider in the minds of customers. It takes shape in advertising, packaging, and other marketing communications, and becomes a focus of the relationship with consumers. In time, a brand comes to embody a promise about the goods it identifiesa promise about quality, performance, or other dimensions of value, which can influence consumers' choices among competing products. When consumers trust a brand and find it relevant, they may select the offerings associated with that brand over those of competitors, even at a premium price. When a brand's promise extends beyond a particular product, its owner may leverage it to enter new markets. For all these reasons, a brand can hold tremendous value, known as brand equity.

Construction
In practice, brand equity is difficult to measure. Because brands are crucial assets, however, both marketers and academic researchers have devised means to contemplate their value. Some of these techniques are described in the "Methodologies" section below.

Methodologies
brand Equity Ten (Aaker): David Aaker, a marketing professor and brand consultant, highlights ten attributes of a brand that can be used to assess its strength. These include Differentiation, Satisfaction or Loyalty, Perceived Quality, Leadership or Popularity, Perceived Value, Brand Personality, Organizational Associations, Brand Awareness, Market Share, and Market Price and Distribution Coverage. Aaker doesn't weight the attributes or combine them in an overall score, as he believes any weighting would be arbitrary and would vary among brands and categories. Rather he recommends tracking each attribute separately. Brand Equity Index (Moran): Marketing executive Bill Moran has derived an index of brand equity as the product of three factors:

Effective Market Share is a weighted average. It represents the sum of a brand's market shares in all segments in which it competes, weighted by each segment's proportion of that brand's total sales. Relative Price is a ratio. It represents the price of goods sold under a given brand, divided by the average price of comparable goods in the market. Durability is a measure of customer retention or loyalty. It represents the percentage of a brand's customers who will continue to buy goods under that brand in the following year.

Brand Asset Valuator (Young & Rubicam): Young & Rubicam, a marketing communications agency, has developed the Brand Asset Valuator, a tool to diagnose the power and value of a brand. In using it, the agency surveys consumers' perspectives along four dimensions:

Differentiation: The defining characteristics of the brand and its distinctiveness relative to competitors. Relevance: The appropriateness and connection of the brand to a given consumer. Esteem: Consumers' respect for and attraction to the brand. Knowledge: Consumers' awareness of the brand and understanding of what it represents.

Brand Valuation Model (Interbrand): Interbrand, a brand strategy agency, draws upon financial results and projections in its own model for brand valuation. It reviews a company's financial statements, analyzes its market dynamics and the role of brand in income generation, and separates those earnings attributable to tangible assets (capital, product, packaging, and so on) from the residual that can be ascribed to a brand. It then forecasts future earnings and discounts these on the basis of brand strength and risk. The agency estimates brand value on this basis and tabulates a yearly list of the 100 most valuable global brands. Conjoint Analysis: Marketers use conjoint analysis to measure consumers' preference for various attributes of a product, service, or provider, such as features, design, price, or location. By including brand and price as two of the attributes under consideration, they can gain insight into consumers' valuation of a brandthat is, their willingness to pay a premium for it.

Measurement
There are many ways to measure a brand. Some measurements approaches are at the firm level, some at the product level, and still others are at the consumer level. Firm Level: Firm level approaches measure the brand as a financial asset. In short, a calculation is made regarding how much the brand is worth as an intangible asset. For

example, if you were to take the value of the firm, as derived by its market capitalizationand then subtract tangible assets and "measurable" intangible assetsthe residual would be the brand equity. One high-profile firm level approach is by the consulting firm Interbrand. To do its calculation, Interbrand estimates brand value on the basis of projected profits discounted to a present value. The discount rate is a subjective rate determined by Interbrand and Wall Street equity specialists and reflects the risk profile, market leadership, stability and global reach of the brand. Product Level: The classic product level brand measurement example is to compare the price of a no-name or private label product to an "equivalent" branded product. The difference in price, assuming all things equal, is due to the brand. More recently a revenue premium approach has been advocated. Consumer Level: This approach seeks to map the mind of the consumer to find out what associations with the brand the consumer has. This approach seeks to measure the awareness (recall and recognition) and brand image (the overall associations that the brand has). Free association tests and projective techniques are commonly used to uncover the tangible and intangible attributes, attitudes, and intentions about a brand. Brands with high levels of awareness and strong, favorable and unique associations are high equity brands. All of these calculations are, at best, approximations. A more complete understanding of the brand can occur if multiple measures are used.

Positive brand equity vs. negative brand equity

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Brand equity is the positive effect of the brand on the difference between the prices that the consumer accepts to pay when the brand known compared to the value of the benefit received. There are two schools of thought regarding the existence of negative brand equity. One perspective states brand equity cannot be negative, hypothesizing only positive brand equity is created by marketing activities such as advertising, PR, and promotion. A second perspective is that negative equity can exist, due to catastrophic events to the brand, such as a wide product recall or continued negative press attention (Blackwater or Halliburton, for example). Colloquially, the term "negative brand equity" may be used to describe a product or service where a brand has a negligible effect on a product level when compared to a noname or private label product.

Examples
In the early 2000s in North America, the Ford Motor Company made a strategic decision to brand all new or redesigned cars with names starting with "F." This aligned with the previous tradition of naming all sport utility vehicles since the Ford Explorer with the letter "E." The Toronto Star quoted an analyst who warned that changing the name of the well known Windstar to the Freestar would cause confusion and discard brand equity built up, while a marketing manager believed that a name change would highlight the new redesign. The aging Taurus, which became one of the most significant cars in American auto history, would be abandoned in favor of three entirely new names, all starting with "F," the Five Hundred, Freestar, and Fusion. By 2007, the Freestar was discontinued without a replacement. The Five Hundred name was thrown out and Taurus was brought back for the next generation of that car in a surprise move by Alan Mulally. Having this information is a necessary springboard for responding to attitudes. If we can understand and influence attitudes, we can successfully alter behaviour. Measuring the value that the market places on the brand is not a new concept; the benefits of Customer Value Management and Analysis have been well stated in many books and articles.

Brand equity model

Brand image
The impression in the consumers' mind of a brand's total personality (real and imaginary qualities and shortcomings). Brand image is developed over time through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme, and is authenticated through the consumers' direct experience. See also corporate image. Like brand personality, brand image is not something you have or you don't! A brand is unlikely to have one brand image, but several, though one or two may predominate. The key in brand image research is to identify or develop the most powerful images and reinforce them through subsequent brand communications. The term "brand image" gained popularity as evidence began to grow that the feelings and images associated with

a brand were powerful purchase influencers, though brand recognition, recall and brand identity. It is based on the proposition that consumers buy not only a product (commodity), but also the image associations of the product, such as power, wealth, sophistication, and most importantly identification and association with other users of the brand. In a consumer led world, people tend to define themselves and their Jungian "persona" by their possessions. According to Sigmund Freud, the ego and superego control to a large extent the image and personality that people would like others to have of them. Good brand images are instantly evoked, are positive, and are almost always unique among competitive brands. Brand image can be reinforced by brand communications such as packaging, advertising, promotion, customer service, word-of-mouth and other aspects of the brand experience. Brand images are usually evoked by asking consumers the first words/images that come to their mind when a certain brand is mentioned (sometimes called "top of mind"). When responses are highly variable, non-forthcoming, or refer to non-image attributes such as cost, it is an indicator of a weak brand image. A logo is not your brand, nor is it your identity. Logo design, identity design and branding all have different roles, that together, form a perceived image for a business or product. There has been some recent discussion on the web about this topic, about your logo not being your brand. Although this may be true, I havent seen any clarification of the differences between brand, identity and logo. I wish to rectify this. What is brand? The perceived emotional corporate image as a whole. What is identity? The visual aspects that form part of the overall brand. What is a logo? A logo identifies a business in its simplest form via the use of a mark or icon.

What is branding?
Branding is certainly not a light topic whole publications & hundreds of books have been written on the topic, however to put it in a nutshell you could describe a brand as an organisation, service or product with a personality that is shaped by the perceptions of the audience. On that note, it should also be stated that a designer cannot make a brand only the audience can do this. A designer forms the foundation of the brand.

Many people believe a brand only consists of a few elements some colours, some fonts, a logo, a slogan and maybe some music added in too. In reality, it is much more complicated than that. You might say that a brand is a corporate image. The fundamental idea and core concept behind having a corporate image is that everything a company does, everything it owns and everything it produces should reflect the values and aims of the business as a whole. It is the consistency of this core idea that makes up the company, driving it, showing what it stands for, what it believes in and why they exist. It is not purely some colours, some typefaces, a logo and a slogan. As an example, lets look at the well known IT company, Apple. Apple as a company, projects a humanistic corporate culture and a strong corporate ethic, one which is characterised by volunteerism, support of good causes & involvement in the community. These values of the business are evident throughout everything they do, from their innovative products and advertising, right through to their customer service. Apple is an emotionally humanist brand that really connects with people when people buy or use their products or services; they feel part of the brand, like a tribe even. It is this emotional connection that creates their brand not purely their products and a bite sized logo.

What is identity design?

One major role in the brand or corporate image of a company is its identity. In most cases, identity design is based around the visual devices used within a company, usually assembled within a set of guidelines. These guidelines that make up an identity usually administer how the identity is applied throughout a variety of mediums, using approved colour palettes, fonts, layouts, measurements and so forth. These guidelines ensure that the identity of the company is kept coherent, which in turn, allows the brand as a whole, to be recognisable. The identity or image of a company is made up of many visual devices:

A Logo (The symbol of the entire identity & brand) Stationery (Letterhead + business card + envelopes, etc.) Marketing Collateral (Flyers, brochures, books, websites, etc.) Products & Packaging (Products sold and the packaging in which they come in) Apparel Design (Tangible clothing items that are worn by employees) Signage (Interior & exterior design) Messages & Actions (Messages conveyed via indirect or direct modes of communication) Other Communication (Audio, smell, touch, etc.)

Anything visual that represents the business.

All of these things make up an identity and should support the brand as a whole. The logo however, is the corporate identity and brand all wrapped up into one identifiable mark. This mark is the avatar and symbol of the business as a whole.

What is a logo?
To understand what a logo is, we must first understand what it is for. A logo is for identification. A logo identifies a company or product via the use of a mark, flag, symbol or signature. A logo does not sell the company directly nor rarely does it describe a business. Logos derive their meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolises, not the other way around logos are there to identity, not to explain. In a nutshell, what a logo means is more important than what it looks like. To illustrate this concept, think of logos like people. We prefer to be called by our names James, Dorothy, John rather than by the confusing and forgettable description of ourselves such as the guy who always wears pink and has blonde hair. In this same way, a logo should not literally describe what the business does but rather, identify the business in a way that is recognisable and memorable. It is also important to note that only after a logo becomes familiar, does it function the way it is intended to do much alike how we much must learn peoples names to identify them. The logo identifies a business or product in its simplest form.

Diffrence b/w brand image and idientity

It is important to distinguish between corporate identity, brand identity, and brand image. Corporate identity is concerned with the visual aspects of a company's presence. When companies undertake corporate identity exercises, they are usually modernizing their visual image in terms of logo, design, and collaterals. Such efforts do not normally entail a change in brand values so that the heart of the brand remains the same - what it stands for, or its personality. Unfortunately, many companies do not realize this fallacy, as they are sometimes led to believe by agencies and consultancy companies that the visual changes will change the brand image. But changes to logos, signage, and even outlet design do not always change consumer perceptions of quality, service, and the intangible associations that come to the fore when the brand name is seen or heard.

The best that such changes can do is to reassure consumers that the company is concerned about how it looks. Brands do have to maintain a modern look, and the visual identity needs to change over time. But the key to successfully effecting a new look is evolution, not revolution. Totally changing the brand visuals can give rise to consumer concerns about changes of ownership, or possible changes in brand values, or even unjustified extravagance. If there is a strong brand personality to which consumers are attracted, then substantial changes may destroy emotional attachments to the brand. People do not expect or like wild swings in the personality behavior of other people, and they are just as concerned when the brands to which they have grown used exhibit similar "schizophrenic" changes. On the other hand, if the intention is to substantially improve the standing of the brand, then corporate identity changes can be accompanied by widespread changes to organizational culture, quality, and service standards. If done well, and if consumers experience a great new or improved experience, then the changes will, over the longer term, have a corresponding positive effect on brand image. If you are spending a vast amount of money on corporate identity, it is as well to remember this. Brand identity is the total proposition that a company makes to consumers - the promise it makes. It may consist of features and attributes, benefits, performance, quality, service support, and the values that the brand possesses. The brand can be viewed as a product, a personality, a set of values, and a position it occupies in people's minds. Brand identity is everything the company wants the brand to be seen as. Brand image, on the other hand, is the totality of consumer perceptions about the brand, or how they see it, which may not coincide with the brand identity. Companies have to work hard on the consumer experience to make sure that what customers see and think is what they want them to.

Brand identity
The outward expression of a brand, including its name, trademark, communications, and visual appearance. Because the identity is assembled by the brand owner, it reflects how the owner wants the consumer to perceive the brand and by extension the branded company, organization, product or service. This is in contrast to the brand image, which is a customer's mental picture of a brand. The brand owner will seek to bridge the gap between the brand image and the brand identity. Effective brand names build a connection between the brand personality as it is perceived by the target audience and the actual product/service. The brand name should be conceptually on target with the product/service (what the company stands for).

Furthermore, the brand name should be on target with the brand demographic. Typically, sustainable brand names are easy to remember, transcend trends and have positive connotations. Brand identity is fundamental to consumer recognition and symbolizes the brand's differentiation from competitors. Brand identity is what the owner wants to communicate to its potential consumers. However, over time, a product's brand identity may acquire (evolve), gaining new attributes from consumer perspective but not necessarily from the marketing communications an owner percolates to targeted consumers. Therefore, brand associations become handy to check the consumer's perception of the brand. Brand identity needs to focus on authentic qualities - real characteristics of the value and brand promise being provided and sustained by organizational and/or production characteristics. What is Branding and How Important is it to Your Marketing Strategy? The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers. Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:

Delivers the message clearly Confirms your credibility Connects your target prospects emotionally Motivates the buyer Concretes User Loyalty

To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. You do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact. Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot. A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It's important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand. After

all your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without. What does branding mean to your company's marketing strategy

What is Branding?
To understand branding, it is important to know what brands are. A brand is the idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with, by identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea or image. Branding is when that idea or image is marketed so that it is recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or product when there are many other companies offering the same service or product. Advertising professionals work on branding not only to build brand recognition, but also to build good reputations and a set of standards to which the company should strive to maintain or surpass. Branding is an important part of Internet commerce, as branding allows companies to build their reputations as well as expand beyond the original product and service, and add to the revenue generated by the original brand. When working on branding, or building a brand, companies that are using web pages and search engine optimization have a few details to work out before being able to build a successful brand. Coordinating domain names and brand names are an important part of finding and keeping visitors and clients, as well as branding a new company. Coordination of a domain name and brand names lends identification to the idea or image of a specific product or service, which in turn lets visitors easily discovery the new brand. Branding is also a way to build an important company asset, which is a good reputation. Whether a company has no reputation, or a less than stellar reputation, branding can help change that. Branding can build an expectation about the company services or products, and can encourage the company to maintain that expectation, or exceed them, bringing better products and services to the market place.

Evolution of brand
Companies, especially those that largely depend on brand recognition and customer loyalty, need to perform brand evaluation from time to time in order to assess the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. Brands are names, designs, terms or symbols that are considered as ownership labels. These allow consumers to distinguish a product or service from all the others. Marketing strategists use these labels to their advantage by successfully aiding consumers to come up with characteristics or qualities associated to the product or service that they are

promoting. Because of this, brand names become the central element for all advertising efforts. The science of creating and managing these brand names is called brand management. Given the importance of brand names in virtually all marketing campaigns, it is important for companies to handle the process of choosing and evaluating brand names carefully. Foremost, it should be possible to provide legal protection to a particular brand name so as to prevent competitors from capitalizing on them. It should likewise be easy to associate products or services to brand names so company image will be reinforced through these labels. In addition, names or words that are easy to remember, easy to pronounce and popular would make good brand names. A brand selection process typically involves numerous brand suggestions before a final brand name is decided. Other companies opt to conduct qualitative research and use chain associations in line with brand selection. The concept of brand management hinges on the use of marketing techniques that would optimize brand recognition. These include activities designed to increase the perceived value of brand names to target customers. With efficient brand management, an increase in branch equity and branch franchise can be expected. Brand equity is commonly defined as an asset that is dependent on the mind associations of consumers. It can be measured through financial data, through brand extension and consumer-based attitudes. Brand equity can be measured financially by determining how much a customer is willing to pay for a particular product or service. It may also be measured through brand extension or the use of the same brand name for a product or service that can be classified in another category. Lastly, brand equity can be assessed based on the general attitude of consumers toward a particular brand name. As can be vouched by many companies, strong brand equity leads to a more stable income stream and increased cash flow. Once a brand has already gained widespread recognition, companies can benefit from reduced promotional costs and larger market shares. Brand evaluation is crucial in effective brand management. This process enables marketers to obtain a more accurate idea about how powerful a brand name is. In turn, this will help marketers decide what their future marketing strategy would be. Some of the more common metrics used in measuring a brand are brand perception, brand financial value and brand performance. Metrics used for evaluation may differ from company to company but generally, these performance measures are mainly sensitive to consumer perception and consumer attitude.