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A brand is an
identifier of products and services. It is an intangible asset
that begins with a legally protectable right, such as a
trademark, and through investment is developed to ultimately
represent a promise of quality. According to the American
Marketing Association a brand is
A name, term, sign, symbol, or any other feature that
identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those
of other sellers.
The 'tangible' elements of a brand are:
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Trademark
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Names
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Symbols
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Logotypes
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Trade Dress
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Tag Lines
In addition to the
features that are tangible, there are intangible emotional
feelings attached to a brand.
A brand creates a reaction that sets the product or service
apart from its competitors. What gives a brand its value is the
current and future accumulated brand equity stored in the minds
of its consumers. This brand equity represents a series of
qualitative judgments, which combine to create brand perceived
quality, brand preference and brand loyalty. These are
intangible assets residing in the minds of consumers, which have
a value only as long as they can be translated into a greater
propensity to buy a particular product or service or shop at a
particular mall.
Such a propensity may be evidenced by consistent long-term
demand for the brand that shifts the demand curve in one of two
ways - either by increasing the price at which transactions are
struck or by increasing the volume of transactions over time for
the product or service.
Strong brands produce a more dependable stream of revenue,
profit and cash flow than non-branded equivalent products or
services. Put simply, brands represent a pact between the
consumer and the producer promising a flow of future revenues.
Brand owners must create and maintain a market position by
producing an attractive product or service, or group of products
or services, the characteristics of which can be legally
protected. Once created, a brand owner seeks to maintain that
position by preventing others from mimicking the key
characteristics that make it attractive as the market leader.
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