Branding Terms – Clearing the Doubt Around Marketing Expressions

For the last few days, I’ve been preparing several lectures (and seminars) on content marketing, copywriting, and branding. One of those lectures is set to be just an hour and a half long, with an additional half-hour designated for questions from the lecture attendants. In preparation for those lectures, I realized how comprehensive these fields are and how hard it is to cram everything necessary in such a short time. Of course, I knew it before that, but my work had sparked an idea for this post about branding terms. Once we did some research, we were right. There are quite a few branding terms out there, so this post is conceived as a branding glossary, which will, of course, be updated when we develop some new ones. So, feel free to bookmark this one and get back to it whenever you encounter some branding terms you’re unsure what they stand for.

Branding terms you’ve undoubtedly heard of before

Even your friends who aren’t in the marketing business have heard about these branding terms and probably even commented on some. So, why did I even decide to include them in this brand glossary? Well, you don’t see a dictionary without those simple words such as “house,” “car,” or “dog.” In addition to that, there might be a thing or two about those simple branding terms you might not know.

Logo

This is precisely what I meant when I said your friend who isn’t (interested) in marketing might have talked about it. A logo is a visual representation of a brand, and most times, it’s the first element of a brand one encounters. You might also think that a logo and a logotype are the same thing or that one is short for the other. Well, not quite.

Source: Inkbot Design

Brand Name

If one makes an ordered list of which brand elements a person encounters first, the logo would be the first, and the brand name would be the second. Equally important as the logo, a brand name is probably the second thing a person sees and remembers when encountering a brand, so it is most definitely crucial for our list of branding terms.
There’s always a discussion about whether a brand name is essential and whether a company should invest in it. Some companies have paid millions and millions of dollars to copywriters and agencies to create their brand names. It’s not a coincidence companies did that. Just imagine your company is called “doiafjepj.” Imagine someone trying to pronounce it, let alone type it in the Google search. Now, of course, you won’t name your company that, but you might think you’ve created a great name, and then, it’s already taken, or your audience can’t remember it; it reminds them of a brand in another category, maybe even they don’t like it. Do you still think the brand name isn’t important? Well, if you do, then see the example below. PepsiCo’s owner company has two different brand names for two distinct markets of these chips. There’s a strong reason for that, but here is an example of how important a brand name can be. There are others as well.

Source: Steemit

Rebranding

Rebranding is a simple process of changing a brand’s main elements. It usually implies changing the brand’s name or logo (or both). Rebranding can, of course, be successful, or it can be a total and utter failure. When deciding on a rebranding, a company must explore all other options before because the audience always has some relationship with a brand, and when a company does a rebranding, a whole new relationship is being built. In my experience and career, I’ve seen or heard many reasons companies reach out for a rebranding. The most memorable one for me was because a company got a bad reputation for not paying their suppliers (I wonder why). Some other reasons are:

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Changing market
• Outdated image
• Repositioning
• Bad Reputation
• New CEO
• Expanding the market
• …

If, on the other hand, both elements are kept and lesser changes are made to the brand, we’re talking about brand refreshment. A brand refreshment is usually done when a company has a strong brand but needs to adjust it to modern design trends or some other social norms that emerged through social change.

Source: Turbologo

Tagline, Slogan, Claim

Ah, one of my favorite brand puzzles (if one can call them that). People tend to mix up these branding terms regularly, and since they’re all connected and quite similar, that’s not a surprise. Anyhow, our brand glossary wouldn’t be complete without these. So, when you think about these branding terms, the best thing to do is to think about time or duration. A brand tagline is something a brand stands for, and the tagline is here to stay. It’s a public interpretation of the brand’s philosophy, what they’re all about, not so much about their product. Slogan, on the other hand, is more temporary. Although that doesn’t mean it can’t stick with the brand and its audience for extended periods, it’s more product-oriented. For instance, political parties have a different slogan for each election. Lastly, a claim is more sales-oriented and the most short-term of the three. A single campaign can have multiple claims. We like to make campaigns like these here at Kontra. You can see examples one and two here.

Source: Brandmaster academy

People tend to mix up these branding terms because they evolved with marketing, media, and communication. You can also find different definitions for these online, but this is my explanation, and it is also one that I believe is the most up-to-date.

Intermediate branding terms

You probably heard these terms a couple of times but weren’t always sure what they meant or might have doubts about them. Since we’ve covered the basic terminology in our brand glossary, the following branding terms will be listed alphabetically.

Brand Ambassador

Most brands don’t have brand ambassadors. I need to think hard to remember a natural brand ambassador, if there are any. First of all, a brand ambassador should be a celebrity. That, for me, is a prerequisite. Indeed, some influencers have also become famous in the last decade, but micro-influencers (although they can be a great advertising strategy) can’t be brand ambassadors from my POV. So, paid cooperation with an influencer is one thing, and a contract for a brand ambassador is entirely different. A brand ambassador won’t just deliver the amount of content agreed with the brand. A brand ambassador should be seen using a product or service for which he or she is an ambassador. People need to see and believe they love and use the product or service of the brand in question.

Brand Awareness or Brand Presence

A term frequently used in the marketing agency. It consists of two concepts. The first is the degree to which the audience recognizes the brand and its products or services. The other is perception. How does the target audience perceive and prefer the brand over the competition? Brand awareness is an important business metric. It’s the first part of the sales funnel or the buyer’s journey. Let’s imagine two pools of potential customers:

• In the first pool, some people have heard about your brand
• The people in the second pool are ready to buy from you
• For a person to get to the second pool, they’ve had to enter in the first pool first
• The path between those two pools is called a buyer’s journey
• To fill the second pool, you must first invite your audience to the first pool
• If your first pool becomes empty, you will depend only on people from the second pool

In the age of digital marketing, we frequently see companies try to depend solely on the second pool, concentrating just on people who are ready to buy. That strategy might be okay if your product or service is eligible. For example, if you’re selling bread, milk, or other products people need almost daily. However, be aware that some people can become lactose intolerant or stop eating bread. They might also start buying your competitor’s products. Even if none of it happens, you won’t be able to grow your business. That is why brand awareness is essential.

Brand book or brandbook

In a word, the bible. The more known a brand is, the more critical a brandbook is to the company behind it. Yesterday, I participated in a webcast by our client – a big global company. On the call, there were agencies and in-house marketing teams worldwide. The goal was to explore further and explain the details of the brand usage. A brand book is a document used to regulate the usage of the brand elements, such as a playbook. All the most prominent world brands know the importance of a strong brand book. Your brand book is crucial to your brand recognition, especially if you’re in the mass consumption business. People mostly buy through emotion. They like to feel safe about a product. They prefer the brands they trust. It’s the brand book’s job to prescribe the rules of visual communication and ensure the audience recognizes the brand on the first encounter.

A page from a brand book we made here at Kontra for our client ActiveTourism

Among other things, a brand book consists of:

• Brand colors
• Brand fonts
• Brand icons
• Brand guidelines – How should branding elements be used in different settings
• Brand materials
• Logo
• …

Brand image, brand personality, and brand identity

These branding terms are somewhat connected, so I grouped them. However, these branding terms have significant differences. Brand image refers to how audiences perceive and feel about a brand when encountering it. In contrast, brand identity comprises purely visible elements like color, design, and logo. Brand personality, on the other hand, is to the brand what human characteristics are to a person. It’s how a brand represents itself in public communication. It displays what kind of communication you can expect from a brand, whether serious, playful, technical, or something else. Brand personality is the base on which the Tone of Voice of a brand is built.

Source: AdMaximise

Brand Launch

This one might be self-explanatory. However, it’s one of the branding terms not to be skipped from this glossary. The brand launch is serious work, and when done right, it can significantly impact a business, especially in FMCG, tech, and other competitive industries where branding influences sales considerably. A brand launch consists of showcasing the following:

• Brand’s story – A written narrative that articulates a company’s origins, values, and mission
• Value – A company can have one or multiple brands, and a brand’s value puts it on the map inside the company’s brands
• Products or services – If you want to sell your products or services, the first step is to say, “Look what I have for you.”

Brand packaging design

Another straightforward term from this branding glossary. Packaging is a brand element reserved for products, but it’s frequently vital for that product’s success, especially in the FMCG industry. Imagine you’re a company selling chocolate. You manage to enlist it on some shelves in some supermarkets, but your packaging is not standing out in some way. You’re bound to have a bad time. Even if your marketing is excellent and your product is unique, you will undoubtedly lose sales if your target audience can’t find your product on the shelves.
Furthermore, brand packaging is responsible for more than just making your product noticeable. It can justify its price, attract buyers and investors, and much more. All in all, brand packaging is not to be disregarded.

Brand positioning

Last but not least, brand positioning is not just a marketing but also a business term. The automotive industry is an excellent example of the importance of brand positioning. It’s not that Renault engineers wouldn’t know how to make a supercar or a muscle car. It’s not that Ferrari’s engineers can’t make a city compact car. The reason why these brands don’t produce these products is because of positioning. Ferrari positioned itself as a company making sports cars. It’s what they’re best at, and it’s what they’re recognized for. That’s what they’re brand positioning is. You wouldn’t expect Renault to launch a sports car that resembles a Ferrari Modena. (They did it, but it never reached a market their Clio did.)
Many companies have changed their positioning throughout history. Some might have ventured into making something you wouldn’t naturally expect from them, but that doesn’t mean they’ve changed their positioning. One company that has done that, though, is Lamborghini. They started by making tractors and built sportscars, being Ferarri’s number one competitor to the day. Although they’re still building tractors, they are mainly recognized for their sports cars. That’s an excellent example of a proper change of brand positioning.

Source: Lamborghini trattori

Brand positioning is all about specializing. Most of the markets (industries) today are relatively saturated. The only way to succeed is to find what you’re best at. You can’t please everyone and make everyone your audience and buyers. The minute you start thinking everyone will buy from you is when everyone slowly stops buying from you.

Sub-brand

As I already mentioned before, a company can have multiple brands. In correlation with positioning, some companies create a new brand to compete in a new market. The usual reason behind it is that they don’t want to jeopardize the position of their parent brand. The other would be that the product or service a company plans to offer under the sub-brand is either different from the parent brand or its perception should be significantly different from the ones of the parent brand. Another example of that comes from the automotive industry. At the end of the second millennium, Toyota was perceived as a reliable car manufacturing brand. However, they wanted to enter the luxury car market and created the Lexus. I listened to a talk on TikTok the other day – a guy said that Lexus means Luxury EXport to the US. I’m unsure if that information is accurate, but it’s a remarkable story.

Trademark

You’ve probably heard of this one often, but what is a trademark? You have probably seen the black letter “R” in a circle. That’s a trademark symbol. A trademark is a protected symbol used by a person, business organization, or some other entity to identify their products or services so that customers can recognize them. The keyword here is that it’s protected. That is the central role of the trademark.

Advanced branding terms

You might have heard about these or not, but the ones you have heard about are more complex concepts. Whatever they might be, they are certainly not to be skipped from this list of branding terms. Just as in the previous section, these are listed alphabetically.

Brand loyalty

Indeed, brand loyalty is where every brand owner wants to be with their customers. I often tell my clients a story that’s 100% true because I was there. As a college student, I used to work in-store promotion jobs. One of those promotions was for those toilet fresheners you stick inside the rim of a toilet. My job was essentially to promote and sell those. We had a great deal on them, and I was standing in the part of the supermarket where only those kinds of things were being sold. I was one of the best promoters in the company, always within the top 5% results for each product we used to promote. The first thing that went through my mind was that it’s a product you’re putting in your toilet, so I thought people wouldn’t care which product they chose. The product I was promoting might not be the best, but it was a close second and significantly cheaper than the other product. Considering all that, I was sure I would have excellent results and an easy job for the next couple of hours.
The pattern was immediately apparent from the very first moment I started working. People DO CARE what they put in their toilets and are willing to pay more to buy the product they believe in and trust. In the end, I did have a pretty good result, but the amount of persuasion I needed to persuade some people to buy the product I was promoting was beyond what I expected.
You will know you earned brand loyalty when you have that kind of situation I just described. Essentially, when people prefer your product ahead of its competition and what is extremely important, they are willing to pay more. For example, you have undoubtedly heard many people discuss which is better: an Android or iOS phone. The tricky thing about brand loyalty is that there isn’t a universal formula for reaching it. Product quality is a factor, but there are also others, often intangible ones, like the social status it brings or the customer service that the brand provides. The path to follow is to listen to your audience and give them what they want and need. But not blindly, of course. It’s not simple, I concur, and that’s why brand loyalty is the first of the branding terms in the “advanced category.”

Who doesn’t like a good rivalry story?
Source: JumpGrowth

Brand promise

A brand promise is a short, intense, emotionally packed statement that tells customers what the brand is about. It is not a slogan, tagline, or some of those already mentioned branding terms. A brand promise shouldn’t ever change. It has to be timeless, aim for emotions, and tell what a brand is about. In what they believe and so on. For example, Nike’s tagline is “Just do it,” while its brand promise is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”

Brand recall

A branding term derived from the psychological analysis of the audience and shows how many potential customers can remember your brand name (or product) when asked about it. For example, if you ask your customers to list their favorite chips or five cellphone brands and mention your brand, they have a high brand recall for it. This is an example of how brand recall can be measured.

@antonisuave Whats your top 3 brands? #antonisuave ♬ original sound – Antoni

It’s important to mention that brand recall is closely tied to brand awareness in terms of being top of mind for a product category or an industry, but a brand name is also essential for brand recall. In the digital age, where many brands exist exclusively online, the importance of brand recall grows. Your customers can’t pass your shop window, and they must remember your brand’s name to look it up and visit your website or a webshop organically. That’s why your name must be not only easily remembered but also easily spelled.

Source: Google search

Brand Value Proposition

We’re almost at the end of our list of branding terms, but we still have some essential terms to mention and explain. The brand value proposition is one of them. A brand’s value proposition is like a foundation of the tangible values the brand is built on. When customers engage with your brand, they have several touchpoints with it:

• Communication with your audience
• Values your brand stands for, and what’s important to you
• The path to purchase
• The sensation felt when encountering your customer service
• The final price for it all
• The experience of using the product
• The way you solve potential problems your customers have with your product or service

Co-Branding and Brand Extension

Another two joint terms in our branding glossary, co-branding and brand extension, are relatively similar but not the same. Co-branding is a joint venture between two brands to make one product. Sometimes, co-branding is created inside one company, and some other times, it comes from two separate companies. For example, McDonald’s constantly cooperates with different brands to make its McFlurry, and Mondelez makes chocolate with its brands Tuc and LU. As you probably notice by now, I have a bit of a sweet tooth.

Source: Simply Delivery & Amazon

On the other hand, brand extension occurs when a new product or service relies on the name of a more substantial, well-known brand. Essentially, when a company uses a more established brand to penetrate a new category in the market, it has to make sense. For example, you wouldn’t vouch for a food brand with a cleaning supply brand. Also, a brand extension should not be mistaken for a line extension. A line extension is when you introduce a new kind of product, but it’s still recognizable. For instance, when The Coca-Cola Company announces a new taste for Fanta. The bottle or a can keep its shape but change design. In those terms, Milka TUC is a co-branded product and a line extension simultaneously, but for different reasons.

Employer branding

We’ve reached the end of our list of branding terms. Employer branding has risen in popularity in the last decade, and more and more companies attach importance to it. My friend in the employer branding business says that many companies in Croatia still have an enormous space for progress in this area. So, employer branding essentially represents a company as an employer. For instance, if Mondelez (from an earlier example) wanted to work on their employer branding, their goal wouldn’t be to sell their product but to attract the best talent available on the job market.
Employer branding gained the most substantial momentum with the rise and growth of development companies. So programmers and developers were (and somewhat still are) the most sought-after employees. All the companies looking for them immensely paid for their skill and knowledge, and a high salary alone no longer cut it. So, what companies did was advertise themselves as a great employer. They did that by talking about the benefits they offer, their projects, and the general rules of working in their company. Naturally, as with many different things on the internet, all that communication also encountered numerous jokes and banter representing companies as repressed and developers as spoiled brats. However, employer branding is also vital for other companies and positions since the goal should always be filling positions and getting the best talent.