BRANDING IN BRITAIN

Branding in Britain

Branding in Britain

Whether UK citizens are willing to admit it or not, brands help them define who they are. We choose the car we drive, the restaurant we go to, the clothes we wear or even the company we work for because they represent something we believe in or something we aspire to be. Simply put, a brand is a distinguishing name and/or symbol (logo, trademark, or package design) intended to identify the origin of the goods or services (Keller 2003) -- and to differentiate those goods or services from those of competitors . It is "the name, associated with one or more items in the product line that is used to identify the source of character of the item" (Kotler 2000, p. 396).

The foregoing definitions are indicative of a brand being an identifier; a name bestowed to a product. Nonetheless, in recent years the focus on brand being a mere identifier has shifted towards being a vehicle that delivers a promise to the consumer because of repetitive use. A brand is more than name recognition, a colour scheme, a logo, and a slogan; it is about creating an emotional experience. Hart (1998) lends weight to this premise stating a brand is a promise, an expectation waiting to be fulfilled. However, the promise of the brand is not always fulfilled the moment the product is purchased; fulfilment of the promise can take time. Oil of Olay says that you should see a reduction in fine lines in weeks. Slim Fast® promises that if you adhere to their programme, over time you will see results. Instantaneous is not always best. Some of the best brands are built over time, and on far more than catchy jingles, good advertising placement, and bold packaging.

When brand is only about image, it comes across as shallow and half-hearted. In the case of Marlboro, for instance, many smokers buy that cigarette because it makes them feel independent and free like a cowboy, not because they are cowboys. Coke is more than water, syrup, and bubbles. In fact, nobody really cares about what Coke is made of any more: Coke is Coke. BMW offerings to its owners are more than the sheer need of owning a car; it confers a class image. The anticipation consumers feel towards a specific benefit about to be derived from an identified source (a product, a service, a corporation, and so forth) often associated with a standardized set of symbolic representations (name, logo, emblem, colour, tagline, image, etc') (Hawkins, 1998) builds on the notion of brand essence.

Brand essence is the complex mental image summoned by a name, even when that name is heard silently in the mind. Unlike a mere visual image, a mental image is a complex composite of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, opinion and mood. Brand essence is everything a brand stands for in the heart of the customer (Pickton 2005). It is the abstraction that audiences take away after experiencing the sum of brand impressions-from ...