BRANDING GLOSSARY

• Brand
  The sum of all the characteristics, tangible and intangible, that make your offer unique. A promise that becomes an expectation.
  
  
• Brand Building Blueprint™
  A proprietary process developed by Kilmer Kilmer Marshall Duran, Inc. which extracts the necessary information from which to understand your audience, your market, your industry and construct your brand identity in order to develop a comprehensive branding plan.
  
  
• Branding
  The process by which both a brand and a brand identity are developed.
  
  
• Brand Actions
  Specific actions and policies developed and implemented by an organization to reinforce brand positioning, brand attributes, and brand identity at all touch points of customer encounters; leads to brand leverage.
  
  
• Brand Architecture
  Expresses the visual and verbal essence of the brand including color palette, typography, logo, name, textures, shapes, tagline, product/service names, etc.
  
  
• Brand Attributes
  Functional or emotional associations that are assigned to a brand by its customers and prospects. Brand attributes can be either negative or positive and can have varying degrees of relevance and importance to different customer segments.
  
  
• Branding Audit/Survey
  An assessment of the brand's current value versus the expectations of the target market. It includes an analysis of branding components, message and graphics.
  
  
• Brand Awareness
  The proportion of target customers who recall a brand. Brand awareness is a common measure of marketing communications effectiveness.
  
  
• Brand Connection
  That magical moment when a brand connects with a consumer. Typically followed by the consumer embracing the brand.
  
  
• Branded Environment
  A graphic system of identification as applied to three-dimensional physical space.
  
  
• Brand Equity
  The value of the brand in its holistic sense to its owners as a corporate asset.
  
  
• Brand Essence
  The single most predominant characteristic that defines a brand.
  
  
• Brand Expansion
  The application of a brand to a broader target customer market, geographic market, or distribution channel.
  
  
• Brand Extension
  The application of a brand beyond its initial range of products, or outside of its category.
  
  
• Brand Foundation
  The definition of a brand's strategic positioning upon which every component of the branding plan is built.
  
  
• Brand Harmonization
  The synchronization of all elements of brand identity across a line of products or services and/or across geographic markets.
  
  
• Brand Identity
  A unique set of brand associations that currently reside within the minds of target customers. These associations represent what the brand currently stands for and implies the current promise to customers.
  
  
• Brand Leverage
  The ability of a brand to capitalize on its equity by increasing its appeal to a broader customer group, extend to new products, and expand to new markets and/or categories.
  
  
• Brand Loyalty
  The strength of preference for a brand compared to other options: often measured in terms of repeat purchase behavior or price sensitivity.
  
  
• Brand Management
  The process of managing an organization's brands in order to increase long-term brand equity. Also the person or group responsible for designing brand identities aligning them for maximum effectiveness, ensuring that they are not compromised by tactical actions, and designing appropriate brand crisis management plans.
  
  
• Brand Personality
  Brand image or identity expressed in terms of human characteristics.
  
  
• Brand Positioning
  The "market space" within the mind of a target consumer that a brand occupies relative to the competition and along a set of customer need/perception dimensions. The part of the brand identity that is to be actively communicated in a way that meaningfully sets it apart from the competition.
  
  
• Brand Positioning Statement
  A statement that describes the "place" that a brand should occupy in the minds of target customers. Focuses on the equities that meaningfully set a brand apart from the competition.
  
  
• Brand Power
  A measure of the ability of the brand to dominate its product category.
  
  
• Brand Relevance
  The degree to which a brand's image and character are aligned with important customer needs or desires.
  
  
• Brand Revitalization
  A major overhaul of a brand, starting with its positioning and proceeding through creative regeneration of the brand identity.
  
  
• BrandScape
  The competitive and consumer environment in which your brand must perform and compete.
  
  
• Brand Slogan/Tagline
  A memorable phrase, which often accompanies a brand name, intended to aid in recall of the brand and reinforce its positioning.
  
  
• Brand Strategy
  The broad manner in which an organization's resources are deployed to create brand equity.
  
  
• Brand Steward
  Someone who manages, supervises and protects the brand, its use and its development.
  
  
• Brand Value
  The dollar premium that results from having customers who are committed to your brand and willing to pay extra for it. The financial value calculated or determined to be attributable to the brand, apart from other tangible assets.
  
  
• Brand Value Proposition
  The intrinsic value that a brand provides to its customers or constituents over other alternatives. The functional, emotional, and self-expressive benefits delivered by the brand that provide value to the customer: provides the rationale for making one brand choice over another.
  
  
• Branding Vandal
  An individual within the organization who willfully or ignorantly mars or compromises the brand.
  
  
• Brand Voice
  A distinctive audio component of the Brand Architecture.
  
  
• Co-Brand
  The use of two or more strong brands in relation to a common offer.
  
  
• Interactive Branding
  The process of developing Web sites and other interactive products, including strategy development, structural design, graphic design, CD-ROM's, wayfinding and some point-of-sale.
  
  
• Internal Branding
  The process of conveying your brand essence inward to employees, reps, subsidiaries, etc.
  
  
• Parent Brand
  A strong brand that has the capacity to 1) stand alone to represent a core product or service, and 2) support allied products/services by sharing its brand identity, directly through endorsement.
  
  
• Sub-Brand
  A product or service that has a persona and brand values that separate it from the parent brand.