“Brand”: What’s Your Best Definition?

Let’s have a quick chat about a small, simple word that seems to contain an enormously complex universe within its five letters…

…BRAND

Ring a bell? Of course, it does!

We’re surrounded by brands. From the device you’re reading this on to the coffee you drank this morning, everything is “branded”.

Indeed, you’ll be hard pressed to spend a day at the office without hearing “our brand” mentioned at least once or twice.

But when we try to define “brand”, it becomes quite a slippery term, doesn’t it?

Covering such broad territory, it seems to defy the constraints of a simple definition.

Ask a crowd of marketers “What is a brand?” — as I’m about to do — and you’ll likely receive a wide range of distinctly different answers.

So, in the spirit of camaraderie, allow me to start.

My working definition

Imagine a brand as a person. It has a name, a face, a voice, and a distinct personality. It leaves an impression when you meet it and conjures feelings when you think about it.

The face and the name? That’s the logo and… the name. The voice? That’s the style of communication the brand adopts. The personality? That’s the…