The Brandcast

So let’s talk branding.

What is a brand? The word “brand”, is most often used to refer to a product name, but can also be used to reference a company, services that a company offers, a logo, or sometimes even a color can represent a brand, such as 3M’s Post-it note canary yellow.

The concept of branding began when individuals wanted to place a specific identifier on their company or product to create differentiation from their competitors without detracting from the creativity of the product itself. The concept was meant to be visually appealing and low key.

Today with help from the rapid growth of the consumer packaged goods industry, modern branding not only has to differentiate the product from a sea of competitors but the brand also needs to communicate a personality the customer can relate to. A brand needs to communicate a sense of quality, reliability, history, usability and likeability.

More than ever research around your brand, the category and sometimes even a specific account is increasingly important. The market and consumers are ever-changing variables that constantly need to be understood. One may evaluate a brand in many ways. Below are a few of the possible areas of importance to evaluate a brand.

Brand Image: consumers’ perceptions or associations they hold in their minds when they think of a brand.
Brand Awareness: the extent to which people recognize a brand. (This does not necessarily mean they prefer a brand, attach a high value to, or associate any superior attributes to a brand. Many marketers think awareness = preference, and this is not the case. We’re all pretty aware of Enron.)
Brand Recognition: consumers’ ability to confirm that they have previously been exposed to a brand.
Brand Preference: when consumers prefer a brand more than competing brands.
Brand Recall: the ability of consumers to name your brand when given the product category, category need, or a similar cue.
Aided Awareness: when a person expresses familiarity with a brand only after they hear or see a cue, ie: “My bologna has a first name…”
Top-of-Mind Awareness: when a person asked to name brands within a product category names a particular brand as first on the list.

There are several different research techniques that can be used to conduct a brand evaluation. The most popular today are focus groups, online surveys, phone surveys, in home ethnography. The most recent method is in-store consumer observations and on-the-spot interviews, all of which can provide either qualitative or quantitative findings.

As I mentioned earlier, a brand is more than just a word or symbol used to identify products and companies. A brand should create a perception in the mind of the customer that there is no other product or service quite like it—even though there very well may be. One should demonstrate a lasting value based on reliability and quality tied to a strong emotional pull.