A brand is a collection of associations and experiences connected with a service or an entity like a business, town, city etc. A brand is now considered a cultural accessory and a personal philosophy.
Consider the golden arches of the McDonalds corporation or the swoosh of Nike.

Two aspects of a brand:
1. psychological
2. experiential

Careful brand management implies intelligent crafting of a campaign and creates value. A brand that is widely known has brand recognition. Once it builds positive sentiment, it achieves brand franchise. A brand with franchise would be Pillsbury. Most consumers have the warm, fuzzy sentiment to the Pillsbury doughboy, Poppin Fresh and his trademark Woohoo sound when someone presses his tummy. Would it change their minds to know that Pillsbury was part of the Guiness corporation until 2001?

The brand name can become a trademark. In this case, trademark registration becomes necessary to protect proprietary rights to the brand. Again, look to Nike, McDonalds, Sun-kist oranges etc.
Does anyone know your brand? There is often a gap between brand image and brand identity. The brand owner wants to bridge the gap so consumers recognize the brand and to decide what it is.

Today’s tv commercials have tried hard to create an image that is sometimes disconnected from the identity. Did you recognize the monkey and know it is the new symbol of Subway? Did you recognize the purple doll-like sidekick in the commercial and know it was a Yahoo ad? However, most Americans see the headline for ‘Vote for Change’ and know it was an Obama campaign ad. Look at a billboard that says in blue type, ”Kill off the Ranger”, and Canadians know it was for Kokanee beer.

Take time to craft your brand. Trust your agency working on this for you and then work hard to go from brand image to brand identity to brand recognition. Get there and you’ve got gold!

At Edge, we love working with clients on their brand. Read our case studies to see some examples of how we work with clients on building their brands.