Branding
Branding is a general strategy that helps consumers identify and single out one product in a crowded marketplace. Within this general strategy, there are 3 variations.
Family Branding
Family Branding is the art of placing your brand name on all of the products offered.
For example, Coke, Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Coke, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Diet Cherry Coke, and Vanilla Coke.
Individual Branding
Individual branding means that each brand made by one company is offered to the market as it’s own brand.
For example, BMW now manufactures BMWs and Mini Coopers.
Brand Extensions
Think “NEW and IMPROVED” or “Extra strength”.
The thing to be wary of when extending, or adding a new brand to your current family brand is Cannibalization. This is when your new extension eats into the market share of your own established brand.
What’s in a Brand?
Brand Equity is considered by some to be the most important element of an organization. Quite simply, it is the marketing and financial value of an individual brand, and occasionally is worth more than the material value of an organization’s physical infrastructure.
For example, Vivendi Universal purchased the flipside.com URL/Domain name from a local NYC DJ for $1 Million. It is highly unlikely that the total net worth of that DJ (including personal assets) was anywhere near $1 Million, but that was what the market would bear.
A Brand Name is the spoken portion of a brand, including letters, words and numbers.
A Brand Mark is the part of the brand made up of unspoken elements, i.e. logos, symbols or designs.
A Trade Name is the full legal name of a company or organization. For example, Coca-Cola bottling is widely known as Coke.
A Trade Mark is a brand that is legally owned by a company organization or individual. Trademark protections cover such things as Brand Name, Brand Mark, Slogan, or unique packaging.
Characteristics that denote a good brand name/mark are:
- Easy to remember
- Noticeable
- Conveys Purpose
- Differentiates product from competition.
Example: Nike
(so it’s not just a billion dollar check mark)
Nike is the winged goddess of victory, daughter of the titan Pallas and the river Styx. Nike sat at the side of Zeus for the duration of his plight with the titans, and came to be an everlasting symbol of victory and dominance on the battlefield.
The Swoosh logo was created by Caroline Davidson in 1971 at the request of Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike. He needed her to create a logo that could be placed on the side of the shoe. She gave him the Swoosh for $35.00. Invert the swoosh, and the wing-like form is evident; the logo was designed to embody the spirit of the Nike in a simple but effective form.
But the association with the goddess goes deeper. The Swoosh was designed to not only embody the wing of Nike and symbolize personal victory, but also to celebrate the spirit and inspiration of the entire Greek civilization and its competitive heritage.