Objective:
Audience is to understand the following;
- The meaning of a Brand
- Components of a brand
- Competition amongst brands
- Celebration that comes with being a great brand
Audience is to understand the following;
- The meaning of a Brand
- Components of a brand
- Competition amongst brands
- Celebration that comes with being a great brand
What is a brand?
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or other feature that distinguishes one seller's product from those of others.
In accounting, a brand defined as an intangible asset is often the most valuable asset on a corporation's balance sheet.
A logo often represents a specific brand, as do many trade names.
In History
The word "brand" is derived from the Old Norse "brandr" meaning "to burn" - recalling the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products.
Brands in the field of mass-marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent of packaged goods. Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories. When shipping their items, the factories would literally brand their logo or insignia on the barrels used, extending the meaning of "brand" to that of a trademark.
Bass & Company, the British brewery, claims their red-triangle brand as the world's first trademark. Tate & Lyle of Lyle's Golden Syrup makes a similar claim, having been recognized by Guinness World Records as Britain's oldest brand, with its green-and-gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. Another example comes from Antiche Fornaci Giorgi in Italy, which has stamped or carved its bricks (as found in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City) with the same proto-logo since 1731.
In Ancient Africa, a culture where tribal mark is applied on a person to illustrate their origin is a brand.
In livestock husbandry, a system whereby animals are marked with certain colours or marked with certain writings is a brand. Likewise, the writing of names of our fore-mothers on the arm, legs or any part of their bodies is a form of personal branding.
So not forget also, that foodstuffs are even being branded up till today, like tubers of yam amongst others.
Factories established during the Industrial Revolution introduced mass-produced goods and needed to sell their products to a wider market - to customers previously familiar only with locally produced goods. It quickly became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products. The packaged-goods manufacturers needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Pears Soap, Campbell's soup, soft drink Coca-Cola, Juicy Fruit chewing gum, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, and Quaker Oats oatmeal were among the first products to be "branded" in an effort to increase the consumer's familiarity with their merits. Other brands which date from that era, such as Uncle Ben's rice and Kellogg's breakfast cereal, furnish illustrations of the trend.
Around 1900, James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we now know as branding. Companies soon adopted slogans, mascots, and jingles that began to appear on radio and early television. By the 1940s,[11] manufacturers began to recognize the way in which consumers were developing relationships with their brands in a social/psychological/anthropological sense.
Manufacturers quickly learned to build their brands' identity and personality such as youthfulness, fun or luxury. This began the practice we now know as "branding" today, where the consumers buy "the brand" instead of the product. This trend continued to the 1980s, and is now quantified in concepts such as brand value and brand equity. Naomi Klein has described this development as "brand equity mania".[12] In 1988, for example, Philip Morris purchased Kraft for six times what the company was worth on paper; it was felt[by whom?] that what they really purchased was its brand name.
Brand elements
Brands typically comprise various elements, such as:
- Name: the word or words used to identify a company, product, service, or concept
- Logo: the visual trademark that identifies a brand
- Tagline or catchphrase: "Everywhere you go" is associated with MTN, while “Made of Black” is synonymous to Guinness. “It’s in you” represents Peak, while “Just Do it” stands for Nike.
- Graphics: the "dynamic ribbon" is a trademarked part of Coca-Cola's brand
- Shapes: the distinctive shapes of the Coca-Cola bottle and of the Volkswagen Beetle are trademarked elements of those brands
- Colors: Owens-Corning is the only brand of fiberglass insulation that can be pink.
- Sounds: a unique tune or set of notes can denote a brand. NBC's chimes provide a famous example, likewise the Nokia power tone.
- Scents: the rose-jasmine-musk scent of Chanel No. 5 is trademarked
- Tastes: Kentucky Fried Chicken has trademarked its special recipe of eleven herbs and spices for fried chicken
- Movements: Lamborghini has trademarked the upward motion of its car doors
Personal branding is essentially the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual, group or organization.[3]
Personal branding often involves the application of one's name to a product or an idea. For example, the celebrity real-estate mogul Donald Trump uses his last name extensively on his buildings and on the products he endorses (e.g. Trump Steaks). Aliko Dangote has his company called Dangote Group. We all know Bill Gates to be synonymous to Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg as the man behind Facebook.
Branding is all about answering the question “who are you? And “who do you want to be referred as?”
Your brand in the long run is not who you say you are, rather it is who people say you are.
3 important things to note: There is self image, self ideal and self esteem.
Your self-image is who people see you to be per time
Yourself ideal is the real you, that people cannot see now, this is the person God made in His image which may not be the visible part of you now. This is the person you keep imagining to be in your head. If you had your way today, you would rather be your self-ideal in reality.
While Self esteem is your carriage of your self-image in pursuit of yourself ideal.
Self esteem is the opinion you have of yourself and your value as a person.
It is the confidence in your own worth or abilities. It is self-respect and also self-value.
I now run three major companies. Two years ago, I was a contract staff in a bank, being a contract staff was my self-image then, being a business owner was myself ideal as at then also, but my self esteem was not reduced to the level of a contract staff as I did not see myself as such, rather I saw myself as the best training professional and business doctor ever available, today that is a reality.
Your self-image is vital as that represents your character. Your character is like smoke, it cannot be hidden, irrespective of who you claim you are, people can say the number of shoes you have, they can even tell you what shirt you are likely to wear tomorrow – these entire make up your self image. Know that – as you pose before the camera, so it will show in your picture.
Meanwhile, there is so much more than your self-image, which is your self-esteem. This is the component of your brand. This shows your belief, confidence, dreams, visions, passions and expectations of life. If you can get this right, in a matter of time, your destiny will be revealed and catapulted. You will have a different image. Your brand value would be highly improved, as people will see the changes in you.
Your self esteem is what makes you responsible; it is what makes you outstanding anywhere you are. This is what makes you stand for a cause, the cause you believe in which make people to ask “what is wrong with you?” or “why is your own too much?” and others say, “he is a great leader”, “if you want anything done, meet him or just tell her”. You are building your brand by so-doing.
We have great brands around the world and they are synonymous to certain things.
Vital ingredients that makes a brand include:
Character, Competence, Trustworthiness, Responsibility, Accountability, Hard work, Dependability.
What type of brand do you want to be?
Do you want to be blessed or cursed brand?
is it the useful brand or useless brand?
Is it the celebrated brand or the criticized brand
Is it the liberated brand or the imprisoned brand
is it the appreciated brand or the rejected brand
is it the appreciated brand or the rejected brand
Do you want the loved brand or the hated brand
It is important you begin to put yourself in the right light now as it will affect your chances of getting a job at the end of the day. Employers research and check even the social media profiles of applicants and the pictures and post you place can make or mar you.
Dress the way you want to be addressed and for sure, it will help you achieve greatness in good time.
The sky has been taken off the limit for those who are going to the top. As facebook now has over 1 billion people of the 7.3billion of the world.
There are 178million people in Nigeria, remember you have to stand out and show your uniqueness.
I wish you the very best of success in all your endeavors.
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