RESEARCH < posted November 5, 2001 >

BRANDING
Quotes and other relevant research finding related to the topic of branding.


brand (brand) n., v., brand•ed, brand•ing. -n.
1. kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like: the best brand of coffee.
2. a mark made by burning or otherwise, to indicate kind, grade, make, ownership, etc.
3. a mark formerly put upon criminals with a hot iron.
4. any mark of disgrace; stigma.
5. BRANDING IRON
6. a distinctive kind or variety: an unfunny brand of humor.
7. a burning or partly burned piece of wood.
8. Archaic. a sword.
-vt.
9. to label or mark with or as if with a brand.
10. to mark with disgrace or infamy; stigmatize.
11. to impress indelibly: The plane crash was branded on her mind.
[bef. 950; ME, OE: burning, a burning piece of wood, torch, sword; c. Ofris, MD brand, OHG brant, ON brandr; akin to BURN] -brand'er, n. -brand'less, adj.

- Definition from Webster's College Dictionary ©1991

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"...a brand is more than mere name recognition. A good brand can be decisive in differentiating products and services from an ever larger array of competitors. A great brand is a promise, a compact with a customer about quality, reliability, innovation, and even community."

[source: Shepard, Stephen B. "The Best Global Brands," Business Week, August 6, 2001. Accessed online at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_32/b3744027.htm

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˜brand has meaning beyond functionality and exists in people's minds." Part art, part science, brand is the difference between a bottle of soda and a bottle of Coke, the intangible yet visceral impact of a person's subjective experience with the product ‹ the personal memories and cultural associations that orbit around it.˜

˜branding is not advertising. It's about creating a consistent, emotional connection with people. It's about creating a brand identity that helps people define their own identity. I'm a Nike person, a Volkswagen person, a Calvin Klein person (I'm an NPR person).˜

˜A company needs to identify its target demographic and figure out what that audience wants.˜

˜'You have to reach people on an emotional level. It's all about feel,' says Prophet Brand's Aakers. How does the customer feel about the brand? How do they feel when buying or using the product, when seeing the ads?˜

˜This is especially important for online companies because consumer interaction takes place through a computer terminal, a highly impersonal venue...success for online companies depends upon personalizing the brand..."People want to connect with the brand. They want to have that relationship. The key is to take the inhuman Internet and have an icon that reaches out and grabs them.'˜ quote by (Matt Johnson, CEO of San Francisco-based Big Words, an online textbook retailer that targets 18- to 24-year-old)

˜the brand's core identity —which for Net companies usually revolves around speed, innovation, growth, convenience, and fun˜

˜Like any branding process, the focus is to communicate with people on an emotional —not an intellectual —level. The idea is to appeal to people's root fears and desires and to build strong positive associations with the brand or the company.˜

[source: Hawley, Noah. ˜Brand Defined: Part art, and part science, a brand is intangible, visceral, emotional, personal, cultural -- and very hard to build.˜ Business 2.0, June 2000. Accessed online on 11.2.2001 at: http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,13726,FF.html ]