posted by YIN GU and Eason Chan
Written by Lois Geller
In one sense, perhaps the most important sense, a brand is a promise. Think of some top brands and you immediately know what they promise: McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Budweiser, Ford, Apple, MetLife.
You know what you’re going to get with a well-branded product or service.
In another sense, a brand is a specific combination of logo, words, type font, design, colors, personality, price, service, etc.
It’s also a bundle of attributes. Think of Volvo, for instance, and your first thoughts are probably going to be something like “well built, comfortable, Swedish” and, most of all, “safety.”
The promise, look, personality and attributes can eventually acquire a special patina of what I call “me” appeal. Buying a certain brand says something about the person who buys it. Apple has that patina. So does Prius. The booze and clothing businesses are filled with patina products:
Cristal, Guinness, Ralph Lauren, Manolo Blahnik. 
All of this can lead to sub-brands, like iPhone and iPad which acquire the aura of the parent brand.
It takes a lot of time, money and very hard work to build and maintain great brands like that, brands that can speak volumes in just a few syllables.
That’s why I’m usually rendered speechless when a prospective client asks us for a quick “Brand”.
It happens a lot more often than you’d think. I love developing brands from scratch but when the client needs something quick, there’d better be a strong existing brand already in place.
If you’re going to develop your brand, the last thing you want to do is follow the beaten path. You want to head down your own road. Your brand has to plant itself in the hearts and minds (especially hearts) of prospects and customers.
It also has to be memorable. Your brand is the focus of all your marketing efforts (yes, it needs to say something about your company, connect with your target market, be motivating in some way and always create loyalty).
Sometimes a brand is memorable because of the little things.
TD Bank has a special place in their branches for you to deposit all those coins you collect in jars. It’s called the Penny Arcade and makes it a fun game and you can even win prizes. If your kids collect coins, you might want to open a TD account so they can enjoy the process of saving their money there. Years ago Dime Savings Bank inNew York had a small dime carrier it gave to kids and then they’d fill up the 50 slots with a dime in each one (Dime Bank, get it?) and bring it to exchange for a $5.00 bill. Little things can mean a lot (and little things are all do-able on the smallest budget.)
When you think about your brand, think about all the elements: promise, personality, look, voice, service, attributes, memorability, even patina. There’s a good chance that if you ask customers, prospects and competitors about it, you’ll be surprised at how strong your brand actually is.
It’s shorthand for what you are.
Does your brand make you feel great about your own company? This is our logo on the wall when you walk into our agency office. It always makes us smile!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/loisgeller/2012/05/23/a-brand-is-a-specialized/
Marketing Management Blog T1 2015 
Great blog post and I agree with every facet of it! When i think of a great brand my mind always seems to go to Apple. The reason i think this happens is because they invest so much into it. My house mate works at the Chadstone Apple Store and the amount of money they invest in their staff just shows how much they value every component of their brand. He is just a causal sales person and Apple invests in him to learn other languages, go to the gym as well as hosting many dinner nights to update all employees on what Apple is doing and what it is going to do in the future and how it affects them. I do not know any other company that invests so many resources in its staff. If it invests this much in its people, I can only imagine how much it invests in other areas of the company!
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In my opinion, brands are a product in themselves, from the view that consumers sometimes buy a brand as opposed to a product (take for instance, CK: who are synonymous for printing a logo on a T-shirt, are you buying a good quality Tshirt or a logo?). Brands also represent quality and consistency. One buys a can of cola, but Coke represents quality and good taste, wherever I travel, I can always buy a can of Coke and know what to expect. I agree that branding allows a product/service to distinguish themselves from others. However, a key purpose is differentiation, which can also be achieved as the second mover. If the offering is different (or tweaked), value is provided, and a good imprint is left in the minds of consumers, it could also serve as successful branding (Ie. Pepsi). By following the footsteps of others, one can better understand the market demand and potential, also noting that the ‘first to market is often first to fail’ the second mover can draw from the first mover’s mistakes, tweak prices and product offering to be more competitive (Iacobucci, 2013, p.102).
Iacobucci, D, 2013, MM4, Cengage Publications.
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I am not sure about who the author is for this post as it seems its from another blogging site.
Maybe following information helps you think further about the following: “a brand is a specific combination of logo, words, type font, design, colors, personality, price, service, etc.” and helps you write a reflective essay better.
Continuing on that thought we can look at a Brand from the point of view of the Cultural Web
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_90.htm
(Johnson, Whittington & Scholes 2014, p. 156)where a brand is made from Stories, Rituals and Routines, Symbols,Organizational Structure and so on. You can refer to it in Exploring Strategy Text and Cases which is accessible from Deakin Library or below:
Hope that helps you in your work on understand Brands and their impacts.
Saurabh Pandit
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Sorry the image did not come in the previous comments.
Hope it helps.
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Good brands always have an obligation on them, if a brand has identified itself on the scale of quality them it has to deliver quality in its product, volvo’s brand is identified on the basis of safety, therefore, to create safe cars should be their priority to keep up its brand image. It takes effort pain and hardwork to create a brand which is identified on a distinct term by its user, if a particular brand keeps on defecting on its core values or the core from which it is percieved then it may soon be lost from the memories of its consumers and it may lose its brand image.
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Very interesting blog. This reminds me how brands have value to business. Big beand like Apple influence buying decision on cusumer behaviour directly. Well known brands are identifiled as trustmarks. According to a time magazine article i have read recently, it articled on product sameness ” you would have to be a true expect to tease out any meaningful differece among dozens of detergents, cars, cereals, enhance water, or running shoes” this sameness attitude presents why lots of marketters rely on consumer experience than brand functionlity when building a brand in the mind of consumers. Thank you for sharing.
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Great post, I completely agree. Brands mean everything to some customers. Countless studies comparing home brands to branded items at supermarkets have proven that many people are simply drawn to the label, regardless of how the item performs/tastes. Could it be that customers aren’t necessarily drawn to the particular item, but that brand that they trust?
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Enjoyed reading this port. I also agree with your views, strong brands will always dominate but they also have the reputation of understanding the customers needs and wants and ensuring the customers always happy. i think there is a perception in our society, if it does scream out a brand then it is no good. many people spend so much more money on big brands when they could get the same quality product for a fraction of a price. Its just the attitudes of the market. BRAND DOES MATTER
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This is a wonderful post. I agree with what you have demonstrated to people about how important of brand. The best thing that i like is the brand is able to show how strong of the product. the premise that you have given to us is strong about brand. Personally, I am a person who is always think about brand first before buying something ( just something ). This is because brand tells us that what exactly you what to get from that products Thank you for sharing.
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Interesting Blog…
1. Brands provide piece of mind.
2. Brands create difference
3. Brands add value
4. Brands provide safety
5. Brands express who we are.
6. Brands give consumers a reason to share
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@easonchen0421. This is your blog entry or just a reblog from Frobes page http://www.forbes.com/sites/loisgeller/2012/05/23/a-brand-is-a-specialized/ ?
As we can see all are commenting let us know your main blog so that we can direct our comments to your one thus helping in your reflective essay further.
Cheers mate,
Saurabh Pandit
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