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brand :: my brand now encompasses the use of the double colon and no capitalization. chic!

So I was at this party on saturday talking with a friend, and I guess one shouldn’t drink […]

So I was at this party on saturday talking with a friend, and I guess one shouldn’t drink champagne after four hours of robbery-nightmare sleep, because he and I started accosting people demanding they describe brand in one sentence. Boy, if you’ve ever been stared at before–

Anyhow, we got some seriously vague answers, such as “the emotion something makes you feel” and some long ones that damaged brain cells prevent me from recalling.

We felt pretty sassy having come up with the two word definition “broadcasted personification.”

rebecca mailed me hers the next day, clearly still tramatized.

“brand (noun) = promised user experience. always superceded by actual user experience.

branding (verb) is the thing that

a) creates the promise of a particular experience and

b) triggers the brand’s emergence from the subconscious to the conscious.”

and matt sent me

“‘Brand : the first sentence someone says when the company is mentioned in conversation.’ As in “AutoNetwork – don’t buy there, those bastards screwed me over’. ”

your turn!

49 Comments

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  1. 1
    Jay

    “the emotion something makes you feel”

    Hey now, I think that’s the champagne talking, if you’re talking about what I said…

    Brand n. – That which evokes emotion from past experiences

    Think of it as an emotional bookmark. Without some past experience with or exposure to the branded thing (and not just first-hand, either), a brand means nothing.

    And anything can be a brand. People can be a brand. Kottke’s certainly is a brand… Jakob’s a brand. etc etc…

    Oh my God, you know when you read/say/write/type a word too often it starts to look very strange to you—almost meaningless? Brand has just lost meaning to me. Aack!

  2. 2
    Mike

    christina, you need to start taking drugs at parties again. all this work it’s no good for you. relax and go to a pretty place for a while.

  4. 4
    christina

    Anyone see the new ask tog on good grips? He nees a good definition of branding– I think he is mixing it up with marketing.

    He *is* right when he says “The best branding starts with a good quality product that stands out from the pack. That’s what Good Grips started with. That’s what Yahoo started with. That’s what Amazon started with. That’s been the Procter & Gamble’s secret for the last 120 years.”

  8. 8
    Augie Ray

    I think branding is a complex concept that has more to do with human psychology than it does with topics such as marketing, advertising, or product development.

    A brand is nothing more than a way of human thinking that permits us to categorize complex things into simple categories. We retain (or reject) associations that permit us to define, differentiate, and categorize every bit of information we need to store and use. Thus, complex concepts with diverse associations can be stored as a single brief label. Rather than think “black, bubbly liquid that can go flat when left unsealed and causes me to burp when I drink too much and provides caffeine and is available in bottles, cans, and at restaurants and tastes good when mixed with rum and… and… and…”, one thinks “cola” or even “Coca-Cola.” (One possible definition of a brand is when a proper noun replaces a general noun–“Coke” rather than “cola.”)

    The concept of branding goes beyond products and marketing. Take our spouses–they smell a certain way, feel a certain way, sound a certain way, and think a certain way, and all of these association become part of a “brand” in our mind for either “husband” or “wife.” Any exposure to a single association can cause us to recall the whole, and when we recall the whole we do not need to consider every bit of data such as our first date, our wedding day, and the last fight we had–we merely need to think of “Ralph,” “husband,” “Martha,” or “wife.”

    A brand is the simple memory handle we give to complex objects–a way of storing huge amounts of memories, sensations, and concepts so that they can be easily recalled, communicated, and used.

  9. 9
    Melissa

    A brand is a relationship which exists at the whim of the customer who holds the relationship. A brand expression makes a promise, which establishes a customer expectation. The nature of the relationship comes into play when the product either delivers on the promise or not. If there is a longstanding positive relationship, one can be forgiving and overlook disapointment (P&G, Amazon, Yahoo, Good Grip). If no brand relationship yet exists, a single disappointment (based on the expectation established by the implied promise) will likely end the relationship (marchFIRST, other defunct brands).

  13. 13
    Mike

    you’re not getting the point.
    to find out what designers think it is i’d have to ask them. i’d ask a large random sampling of all kinds of designers. then i’d take those responses and interpret them by whatever methodology i’ve convinced myself was the latest and greatest. but i certainly wouldn’t stand here and pretend to speak for a group of people as if they were all of one mind or equal in ability, understanding and experience.
    and i certainly wouldn’t expect someone trained in creating user experiences to make general statements like that either.

  15. 15
    christina

    who needs to do more drugs to chill out now? just trying to bring it back on subject and avoid flamewars.

    So tell us mike, what does mike think brand is? What is the mike brand, that mike has been developing over at biggerhand.com?

    Personally I can’t help but wonder if brand is very much a conceptual model– something that can be broadcasted and you hope becomes a mental model, but you can’t guarentee. It’s that or it is a mental model– still something that you can’t guarentee but you can hope to shape– which means “building brand” efforts are only half the picture.

  16. 16
    Deb

    What Rebecca and Curtis said ring true to me–from very different angles I suppose, but I find I cannot do better. Amen to putting a stop to flamewars!

  17. 17
    Matt

    I would like to clarify my definition…
    I think a companies brand is different for every customer – the ones you screw over will have a completely different concept of what the company stands for / promises/ delivers to the satisfied customers idea.

    What the company wants as its brand must fight with what the customers already perceive as the brand.

  18. 18
    mary

    At first I was entertained. Then it
    became like peeling an onion.
    There is really nothing in the middle. Branding is a slick trick
    that sometimes works.

  20. 20
    Jay

    Personally I can’t help but wonder if brand is very much a conceptual model– something that can be broadcasted and you hope becomes a mental model, but you can’t guarentee. It’s that or it is a mental model– still something that you can’t guarentee but you can hope to shape– which means “building brand” efforts are only half the picture.

    Christina, I guess this is what I was trying to get at before. Building a brand is like trying to control a river. There are some very smart people in the Corps of Engineers who understand fluid dynamics, can build reinforcements, dams, and diversions to suit their purposes. Charting a brand’s course is like building a man-made riverbed in front of a dam. The brand is the water behind the dam.

    When the brand (and by brand, I don’t mean necessarily a logo but even a product, company or person) is released, you hope that it will go the way you expected it to. The collective consciousness is as complex of a system as nature. You can only do what you think is best, and influence the direction. Invariably, a little water may spill. At worst case, you have a riverbreak and your best laid plans are useless…

  21. 21
    Derek M. Powazek

    I was there! I remember!

    In fact, I think I leapt across the room to give you my own definition, which was something like: “Brand is that which precedes (and lingers after) a direct experience with a company.” The idea being, whatever you think of Nike before you ever own a pair, that’s their brand. And whatever you think of the Gap after you walk out of the store, that’s their brand. Get it?

    I admit, it sounded better after all the margaritas….

  22. 22
    Mike

    “brand” is that little light that went on in E.T.’s chest. And when E.T. touched you with his long, glowing finger he was trying to pass on a brand experience.
    So, behind all the guts, and trappings and mucus that made E.T. up there was an “essence” that he was trying to get you to believe in, trust in, etc. And with his finger he could pass you little bit of that essence. see also: tommy hilfigger logowear, my McDonalds, etc. So, brand is all about the ugly little guy giving you the finger, making you think that you’re important because you’ve enveloped yourself in a “thing” that others percieve as worthy.

  24. 24
    tk

    i remember a friend of mine had a nearly foolproof asshole identification system in college. at a party, utter the name ‘kirkegard’ just above normal audiblity. anyone who cruises over is an asshole.

    you’ve given me the idea for an ehancement…

  25. 25
    J. Frothingham Waterbury

    I think branding is a complex concept that has more to do with human psychology than it does with topics such as marketing, advertising, or product development.

    um.

    you mean you think marketing, advertising, and product development don’t have much to do with human psychology?

    bzzzzzzzzzt. next contestant.

  26. 26
    Egbert Sousé

    “A brand is a distinguishing name and/or symbol (such as a logo, trademark, or pacakage design) intended to identify the goods or services of either one seller or a group of sellers, and to differentiate those goods or services from those of competitors.”

    That’s what David Aaker says. And much like what other sources say. And that is a concise and accurate definition with all the hoohah excised, don’t you think? Keep thinking about how that wraps up most of what has been said above and relegates the windy pseudo-marketing speak above to MEANS to accomplishing a very simply stated goal. The means and modalities of accomplishing what he says are multitudinous, but the concept itself is simple.

  27. 27
    tk

    Anyone see the new ask tog on good grips? He nees a good definition of branding– I think he is mixing it up with marketing.

    this forces me to wonder what you think ‘marketing’ means. would you offer a one sentence description of marketing?

  28. 28
    mick

    Humor(n) 2. That which is intended to induce laughter or amusement.

    Alas, I know many a designer who thinks that my earlier definition is the truth. I work with such people, it is my bane to teach them otherwise.

  29. 29
    christina

    I have to say that I think of marketing (the veb, not the noun) as a sales effort, while brand as being cocreated by the customer and the business; thus brand is the parent of marketing. What is marketing? Hmm– I’m definately getting this wrong on the first try, but that’s why we do this in public, so we can get smarter.

    Marketing is the act of selling to a mass audience the desiribility of a given product/service or set of products/services.

    Sales would be the same, only to a smaller known audience… with sales you know who you are selling to, with marketing you don’t– you may his an idea of who they are, but you don’t know exactly who they are (23 yr old males who make 65+ vs. Joe Finkleschmitt).

    Then brand would be composed of what Joe thinks of the product based on the marketing effort he experienced, any sales effort he experienced, as well as is experience with the product, his friend’s and family’s experiences and the time he was on hold with customr service for 2 hours….

  31. 31
    tk

    if i understand what i think you’re trying to say… and i may have this wrong… i think you’re defining marketing the way i’d define ‘promotions’ – a tiny subset of marketing activities.

    marketing is much broader, more complex… infiltrates every aspect of the company… every bit as much as (and in some respects much the same way) as brand does.

    marketing is the whole of:
    understanding your market(s)
    tailoring your (hopefully entire) business to suit that (those) market(s)
    tailoring your product to meet the needs of that (those) market(s)

    brand is a component of this effort, not separate from.

    in your examples in the last graf of your post of what are ‘branding’ activities as distinct from ‘marketing’, those all fall under traditional concepts of marketing, as far as i’ve ever experienced.

    you need to start hanging out with a better class of marketing people.

  32. 32
    richard

    branding is when you take a piece of iron, on a long rod, heat it over a fire, and then hold it against animal flesh.

    it’s marking territory and property.

  33. 33
    christina

    from brand new branding in the smart marketing zine, Darwin

    “Brands are the sum total of all the images that people have in their heads about a particular company and a particular mark.”

  35. 35
    erin

    Searching across several sites for their definitions of “brand” I came across this interesting tidbit at the National Scenic Byways Program. Yes the federal government is “branding” our highways in a discrete wrapped package.

    Anyway – the site has a page defining brand that is pretty thorough and wraps up the definition of brand very succinctly: Brand is “The sum of all information about a product, service, or company that is communicated through a name and related identifiers (everything we do)” (“we” being the company?). The page also spells out the components of brand equity – Strategic awareness – that mental model; Perceived quality – the value judgement in a person’s head; and Singular Distinction – playing out as the best choice or the only choice in a person’s mind.

    There are some other interesting docs on this site and it falls in line with everything I believe about brand. Every part of a company that touches a customer should reflect or support the brand. The brand is a combination of the marketing (the pushed message) as well as the interactive experience between the company/product and the customer.

    just my .02

  36. 36
    Mike

    “Brands are the sum total of all the images that people have in their heads about a particular company and a particular mark.”
    thusly, if I hear my rotweiller speaking to me and telling me what to do then are those thoughts part of the rotweiller’s brand? Is a company (or dog) responsible for carrying my crazy thoughts around as part of the weight of its brand?

  37. 37
    Looney

    Branding, a hot burning sensation on the mind of those who are involved, thick skinned souls avoid damage, thin march through life with Nike emblems on hats and guts full of hamburgers. A method to imprint a product or service on the minds of the masses, containing messages and that old favourite ‘Buy me you bastard’. I’m all cliche out now, remember that old TV show ‘Branded’?, the song is ingrained in my childhood memories, that must be the ultimate branding. We are all sheep, but answer me this, do all sheep follow, if they do, who do they follow, another sheep, or are they endlessly marching around in circles?

  38. 38
    eeldrop

    Looks like things are headed in this direction anyway, but I’ll give this a shot:

    Branding is idea iconography for a product/service/corporation.

    I’m exploiting the defintion of “iconography”—using both the dictionary definition [i.e., a sign (as a word or graphic symbol) whose form suggests its meaning] and the religious notion as well (that the icon itself is a “window” to the divine—the connection is a bit heavier than just “suggests…meaning”).

    Aside from the business of “idea iconography” being vague from the get-go, branding can be confusing because the brand lives in a context that isn’t necessarily controllable by its creator—hence, in re: the rotweiler example, consider this: was P&G responsible for the whole “satanic logo” urban legend some years back? Of course not…but was the brand affected by it? For a while, yes.

    Similarly, the brand creator wants to effect an emotional response…to elict all kinds of comfortable, competent, trusting feelings in the viewer—but all of the efforts of the brand creator are subject to the dynamic, willy-nilly psychological environment in which the brand lives. Case in point/speculation, from the negative side: the dice game, Yahtzee, was created in 1956…if it had been created 15 years earlier, would *you* go around inviting co-workers to join your weekly “yahtzee party”? And if not, whose fault would the brand’s failure have been?

  39. 39
    Christina

    I just asked an account manager from an advertising company to have a go at it… she said: “Everything your company stands for in the minds of the consumer”

  41. 41
    John Calvelli

    I propose we look at branding using the same benchmarks as Richard Dawkins used for genetic replication, and that Susan Blackmore uses for memetic replication: fidelity, fecundity, and longevity. Here is an attempt at a definition: A brand is a memetic replicator used for the purposes of establishing or increasing a territory of economic interest, in ways that can be transmitted easily and effectively, and that lasts over a long period of time.

  43. 43
    Jason

    I can’t help but feel like brand (in it’s most wished for incarnation) is related to meme.

    meme
    (pron. `meem’) A contagious information pattern that replicates by parasitically infecting human minds and altering their behavior, causing them to propagate the pattern. (Term coined by Dawkins, by analogy with “gene”.)

  44. 44
    christina

    John’s site (john as it three comments up john and you forgot to blow your own horn john) has a very interesting rumination of definitions and the nature of brand. Considering branding is what he’s done for a good part of his life, one might well read it and think.

  45. 45
    John

    Christina’s right, I like to ruminate, and ruminate on brand. Thanks for the intro.

    I realize that my definition is not user-centered in the least. I think it a correct definition, though. Brand is in the eye of the beholden, not beholder. It’s the capture of the Unicorn

  48. 48
    matthew

    hello i was wanting to know if anybody has the whole set of mark of excellence, piece of dream, love it live,and welcome to atlanta

    email me if you know anybody has them

    thanks matthew

  49. 49
    matthew

    hello i was wanting to know if anybody has the whole set of mark of excellence, piece of dream, love it live,and welcome to atlanta

    email me if you know anybody has them

    thanks matthew

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