I sometimes think we marketers make it deliberately difficult for non-marketers when it comes to Brand lingo.
I mean, if I were to say...
“We need to do a Brand Audit so we can define your Brand Architecture before we write your Brand Positioning Statement. Then we can develop tell your Brand Narrative, making sure to communicate your Brand Promise.”
...who the heck would even know what I was on about?
If you’ve ever felt that you need a ‘Brand Geek to Regular Human’ dictionary, then this guide is for you!
I’ve tried to keep it straightforward, because none of us need any more buzzword bingo in our lives.
Brand
Let’s start with the most obvious one.
The word was originally used by farmers to mark their herds with a ‘brand’ so that they could be identified easily.
Nowadays, we use it consistently in reference to how a target market can distinguish one business and its products or services, from another.
A brand usually has many different elements as part of its make up.
For instance, visual elements, functional features and emotional benefits.
Brand Ambassador
Put simply, it’s someone who says good things about your Brand.
There are several different types of ‘Ambassador’ in today’s brand world.
First of all, you could describe anyone who is employed by the brand as an ambassador if they represent the brand and its values positively.
Secondly, customers who speak highly of your brand and generate word of mouth about your products and services could be described as ‘Brand Ambassadors’.
Finally, someone who is paid specifically to be a Brand Ambassador - perhaps on social media or in your advertising. This could be a celebrity or an influencer.
Brand Archetype
Or as I like to say - if your brand was a type of person, who would they be? Are they heroic or caring or majestic? Do they share great knowledge or like taking risks?
Brand Archetypes are a method of defining your brand personality through psychology.
How people connect to your brand and what meaning they assign to it, is due to its personality.
Just like a person, your company's brand has a unique personality and this can have a huge impact on whether people want to do business with you.
Put simply, brand archetypes can humanise your brand
There are 12 master archetypes that sit within 4 human motivations.
Brand Architecture
Brand Architecture shows us how all brands owned by the same company are connected and how they relate to each other.
Marketers use architecture to help them decide which brands are distinct and separate from each other and which brands can and should collaborate or work together to give each other a boost.
Do you have one master brand like Amazon and then variations of this such as Amazon Prime, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Kindle? If you do, then you’re what’s known as a ‘Branded House’.
Do you have a parent brand with lots of children? A good example of this would be P&G who have Bounty, Ariel, Bounce, Fairy, Pampers. This is known as a ‘House of Brands’
Or maybe you have a corporate brand name that you ‘lend’ to give credibility to your products. Marriott hotels do this with Residence Inn by Marriott and Execustay by Marriott. If this is your thing, then you’re using an Endorsed Brand Architecture.
Brand Assets
This is all your brand ‘stuff’. It includes your logo, colours, fonts, and any materials that demonstrate the physical or digital representation of your emotional and visual identity.
Examples of brand assets include: Presentations, brochures, leaflets, websites, emails, social media posts, case studies, business cards etc
Brand Associations
What do people think when they hear your brand name?
This is anything that becomes inextricably linked to a brand.
For example, colours, perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, images, experiences, feelings or thoughts.
Brand Audit
This is a review of your brand health from the customer’s perspective, identifying your brand super powers.
The output from a comprehensive audit should include ways to improve and use your brand equity (super powers) and brand attributes to deliver growth and maintain or improve brand health.
Brand Awareness
Put simply, it’s how many people are aware of your brand.
It’s usually measured through research by determining what percentage of your target market have prior knowledge of the brand:
It’s usually measured in two ways:
1. Brand Recall or Spontaneous / Unaided Awareness
This is when the research respondent can remember your brand when given the product category without your brand being mentioned. For example, if asked ‘What toothpaste are you aware of?’
2. Brand Recognition or Prompted / Aided Awareness
This is when a customer clearly remembers or has knowledge of a brand when shown or asked specifically about that brand. For example, if asked ‘Have you heard of Colgate Toothpaste?’
Brand Champion
This term is often interchangeable with ‘Brand Ambassador’.
Brand Champions are people who wax lyrical about the brand, its vision, values and attributes. It’s important to cultivate your brand champions internally.
The more employees love their brand, the stronger the brand will be perceived by the outside world.
Companies benefit greatly from having lots of internal brand champions.
I bet you can name some brands immediately that have dedicated brand champions, because your interaction with them was so positive.
First Direct is a great example of a brand with a positive culture of brand champions.
Brand Equity
Brand Equity is another way of measuring the strength and overall value of a brand.
It is usually reflected in the following:
the way customers feel, think and act towards the brand
the prices, market share and profitability that the brand is able to generate
Building brand equity allows you to differentiate your product and service in the mind of a customer. If there is little or no perceived difference between brands, then the product is essentially a commodity. This will mean that the only way to gain a competitive edge is through price.
Brand Archetypes are an extremely useful tool to help build brand equity.
Brand Equity Model
There are a number of brand equity models used by marketing professionals which provide slightly different perspectives on branding.
The most well known are:
BRANDASSET® VALUATOR
Developed by Advertising Agency Y&R
The company offers insight based on research with 800,000 consumers in 51 countries
Four key components of brand equity - differentiation, relevance, esteem and knowledge.
Read more about BRANDASSET® VALUATOR here
Brandz
Developed by research consultants Millward Brown and WPP
Incorporates the BrandDynamics model
Based on three different types of brand associations
Read more about Brandz here
Keller’s Brand Equity Model
Also known as the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Model.
Uses four steps - Identity, Meaning, Response & Relationships
Read more about CBBE here
Brand Extension
This term refers to extending the brand name beyond its original purpose or category. For instance, a clothing brand that starts to market make up.
This is usually only possible if the brand equity measures are so high that the consumer is interested in buying things because of the brand name rather than purchasing based on product requirements only.
Brand Guidelines
Or put a different way, brand rules.
Quite simply, this is a set of rules that dictate how to show the brand information visually, in written contexts or in person.
The strongest brands tend to have very strict brand guidelines which are enforced firmly by the brand guardian (usually someone in the marketing team).
This document may contain details of how to use a logo, colourways and fonts in addition to guidance on tone of voice and possibly even brand ‘no go’ topics for content marketing.
Brand Identity
This can be summed up in the company’s aspirations for the brand. All the unique aspects that you want to define your company - for instance your logo, tone of voice, products and services and possibly even your dress code.
Brand Image
The associations in the customer’s mind when asked what the brand currently stands for - in other words, how a brand is perceived by its target audience.
The brand image is what is currently in the minds of consumers, whereas brand identity is aspirational from the brand owners' point of view.
The way a brand appears to potential customers or clients is essential to the success of a company.
Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty is the strength of preference for a brand compared to other similar available brand options. It is measured through a range of different dimensions e.g. repeat purchase behavior, price sensitivity.
Brand Narrative
The best marketers are storytellers.
They use the concept of a ‘Brand Narrative’ or a ‘Brand Story’- a method for garnering an emotional reaction from your customers.
Unlike traditional advertising, which may have been simply showing and telling customers about the brand, a brand narrative will connect with your customers on a much deeper level.
Executed well, your brand narrative will be the embodiment of your Brand Archetype.
Brand Personality
Brand Personality is the unique mix of human characteristics displayed by a brand. Brand Archetypes are the best tool for helping you to define your brand’s personality
Brand Positioning
Brand positioning is the art of creating an image and offering that will occupy a distinctive place in the minds of your target market. You can read my Top 5 Tips for Effective Brand Positioning here.
Brand Positioning Statement
A brand positioning statement is the output of your brand positioning work. It’s a clear summary of your image and offering used internally to guide marketing communication strategies.
Brand Promise
A brand promise is a value or experience a company’s customers can expect to receive every time they interact with that company. The more the company delivers on that promise, the stronger the brand. The phrases brand proposition and brand promise are often used to mean the same thing by marketers and they are in fact pretty similar. They both focus on the one or two key points of difference or benefits to the customer.
Brand Recall
Brand recall is the customers' ability to retrieve a brand from memory when given the product category but not mentioning the brand (also referred to as spontaneous or unaided awareness).
Brand Strategy
The 'big picture' plans and tactics deployed by an organisation/brand owner to create long-term brand equity and competitive advantages from branding.
If you need help cutting through some of the jargon to develop a really clear and practical brand plan, get in touch:
Visit the Sarah Lambley Marketing website
sarah@jsfrconsulting.com
07587 140664
Book a FREE consultation in Sarah's calendar
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