Understanding Branding: Definition, Process, and Key Elements

This article provides a comprehensive explanation of branding, including its definition, process, and key elements. It covers the importance of brand strategy and equity, defining a brand, understanding customers, logo design, brand messaging, brand integration, and brand personality. The article cites various sources to support the discussion.

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Branding
According to the American marketing association, branding is named from the word
brand. These associations among the many definers who have made attempts at giving this word
a finer meaning. The term brand means “a name, term, a symbol, design and any other relevant
feature that makes one seller of certain good or service very different from other sellers in the
same industry. They use the word trademark to emphasize on that. (Bennett 2000)
According to (Baer 2004) branding is the art of aligning what one wants his or her
present or target customers to think about his company’s product with what they already have in
their minds about it. “Branding is certainly not a logo, or marketing, or even a positioning
statement. It is a foundation, stating who you are, what your association is, what you offer the
world, and how your audience should (or does) perceive you—and it all centers around the
increasing necessity of ‘mindshare’ and conceptual ownership.” Rob Camper (2004) ‘Brand
Discipline’
Moreover, (Geller 2002) states a more comprehensive meaning to the word branding. He
states that branding is a process and not a one-time event. It entails a look and clear evaluation of
one’s company past and present situation and performance then builds up a cohesive personality
for the company and its products going forward. It also involves carrying out a SWOT analysis
to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and going through all the
benefits both real and emotional that the company’s product or service is giving a satisfaction to
its customers. It’s a process that also entails reviewing key factors spurring growth, pricing,
corporate culture; key players and thereafter figuring out who you are as a company then create a
brand voice.
What branding should entail
From many definitions of the term branding, we can give suggestions on what branding
should entail. We can state the basics of branding are what give branding its full meaning.
Branding entails:
 Brand strategy and equity are how what and where and whom and whom you are
planning on and communicating and delivering your brand messages.
 Defining one's brand; this entails stating the company’s mission, the benefits and
the features and the services of the company
 Knowing what one's customers already thinking about the product and the
company
 Getting good logo and placing it anywhere
 Writing down the brand messaging: this involves writing the key messaging of the
information you want to pass
 Brand integration

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 Designing templates and creation of brand standards for market materials
 Brand personality — The characteristics or traits that describe an organization or
product as if it were a living being (such as ’dynamic’, ‘sexy’ or ‘aloof’), driving
visual and experiential points to consistently deliver emotional qualities to the
point of association and retention

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Baer, J 2004, 'the now revolution ', in convince and convert.
Bennett, PD 2000, 'American marketing association definition of branding', in the dictionary of
marketing terms.
Geller, L 2002, 'definition of branding', in Lois Geller marketing group.