The Brand Gap
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The growing importance of the brand has a flip side: its growing vulnerability. A failed launch, a drop in quality, or a whiff of scandal can damage credibility.
The more collaborative a brand becomes, the more centralized its management needs to be. The future of branding will require strong CBOs—chief brand officers who can steward the brand from inside the company.
Branding is a process that can be studied, analyzed, learned, taught, replicated, and managed. It’s the CBO’s job to document and disseminate brand knowledge, and to transfer it whole to each new manager and collaborator.
Each lap around the branding circle, from differentiation to cultivation, takes the brand further from commoditization and closer to a sustainable competitive advantage.
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Brand Glossary
Included in this revised edition is the complete list of definitions from THE DICTIONARY OF BRAND, a book I edited with the support of an all-star advisory council. The challenge was to create a “linguistic foundation”—a set of terms that allows specialists from different disciplines to work together in a larger community of practice. Neither the terms nor their definitions are carved in stone; we’ll most certainly find that many are malleable, some are fluid, and a few are provisionary as we co-develop the practice of brand building.
artifact
A visible representation of an idea; a product or by-product of designing | see Designing
atmospherics
The identity of a brand environment, represented by its architecture, signage, textures, scents, sounds, colors, and employee behavior | see Experience Design
attitude study
A survey of opinions about a brand, often used as a benchmark before and after making changes to it
audience
The group to which a product, service, or message is aimed; also called the target audience
audio branding
The process of building a brand with auditory associations, such as Hewlett-Packard’s use of the song “Pictures of You” in their Photosmart advertising | see Earcon
authenticity
The quality of being genuine, often considered a powerful brand attribute
avatar
A brand icon designed to move, morph, or otherwise operate freely across various media | see Icon
awareness study
A survey that measures an audience’s familiarity with a brand, often divided into “prompted” and “spontaneous” awareness | see Audience
backstory
The story behind a brand, such as its origin, the meaning of its name, or the underpinnings of its authenticity or charisma | see Authenticity, Provenance
benefit
A perceived advantage derived from a product, service, feature, or attribute
bhag
A“ Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal” designed to focus an organization | read Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
bottom-up marketing
Customer-driven marketing, as opposed to top-down or management-driven marketing | read Bottom-Up Marketing, Al Ries and Jack Trout
brand
A person’s perception of a product, service, experience, or organization; the art and science of brand building
brand agency
A strategic firm that provides or manages a variety of brand-building services across a range of media
brand alignment
The practice of linking brand strategy to customer touchpoints | see Brand Strategy, Touchpoint
brand ambassador
Anyone who promotes the brand through interactions with customers, prospects, partners, or the media; ideally, every company employee
brand architecture
A hierarchy of related brands, often beginning with a master brand, describing its relationship to subbrands and co-brands; a brand family tree | see Co-Branding, Master Brand, Subbrand
brand articulation
A concise description of a brand that enables members of the brand community to collaborate; the brand story | see Brand Community, Brand Story
brand asset
Any aspect of a brand that has strategic value, which may include brand associations, brand attributes, brand awareness, or brand loyalty | see Brand Attribute, Brand Loyalty
brand attribute
A distinctive feature of a product, service, company, or brand
brand audit
A formal assessment of a brand’s strengths and weaknesses across all of its touchpoints | see Touchpoint
brand champion
Anyone who evangelizes or protects a brand; a brand steward | see Brand Steward
brand community
The network of people who contribute to building a brand, including internal departments, external firms, industry partners, customers, users, and the media
brand consultant
An external adviser who contributes to the brand-building process, often in a strategic or advisory role
brand council
A committee formed to assess and guide a company’s brand-building process; sometimes called a creative council
brand designer
Any person who helps shape a brand, including graphic designers, strategists, marketing directors, researchers, advertising planners, web developers, public relations specialists, copywriters, and others
brand earnings
The share of a business’s cash flow that can be attributed to the brand alone
branded house
A company in which the dominant brand name is the company name, such as Mercedes-Benz; also called a homogeneous brand or a monolithic brand; the opposite of a house of brands
brand equity
The accumulated value of a company’s brand assets, both financially and strategically; the overall market strength of a brand | read Managing Brand Equity, David A. Aaker
brand essence
The distillation of a brand’s promise into the simplest possible terms
brand experience
All the interactions people have with a product, service, or organization; the raw material of a brand | see Brand Story
brand gap
The gulf between business strategy and customer experience
brand identity
The outward expression of a brand, including its name, trademark, communications, and visual appearance | read Designing Brand Identity, Alina Wheeler
brand image
A customer’s mental picture of a product, service, or organization
branding
Any effort or program to build a brand; the process of brand-building
brand loyalty
The strength of preference for a brand compared to competing brands, sometimes measured in repeat purchases
brand manager
An obsolescent term for a person responsible for tactical issues facing a brand or brand family, such as pricing, promotion, distribution, and advertising; a product manager
brand manual
A document that articulates the parameters of the brand for members of the brand community; a standardized set of brand-building tools | see Brand Community
brandmark
An icon, avatar, wordmark, or other symbol for a brand; a trademark | see Avatar, icon, Symbol, Trademark
brand metrics
Measurements for monitoring changes in brand equity | see Brand Valuation
brand name
The verbal or written component of a brand icon; the name of a product, service, experience, or organization | see Icon
brand personality
The character of a brand defined in human terms, such as Virgin = irreverent, or Chanel = refined
brand police
Manager or team responsible for strict compliance
with the guidelines in the brand manual | see Brand Manual
brand portfolio
A suite of related brands; a collection of brands owned by one company | read Brand Portfolio Strategy, David A. Aaker
brand pushback
Marketplace resistance to brand messages or brand extensions, often leading to changes in brand strategy | see Brand Strategy, Extension
brand steward
The person responsible for developing and protecting a brand
brand story
The articulation of a brand as a narrative; a coherent set of messages that articulate the meaning of a brand | see Backstory
brand strategy
A plan for the systematic development of a brand in order to meet business objectives
brand valuation
The process of measuring the monetary equity of a brand | see Brand Metrics
buzz
The current public opinion about a product, service, experience, or organization | read The Anatomy of Buzz, Emanuel Rosen
category
The arena in which a brand competes; a consideration set | see Consideration Set
CBO
A company’s Chief Brand Officer, responsible for integrating the work of the brand community | see Brand Community
challenger brand
A new or rising brand that is viable in spite of competition from the dominant brand in its category | read Eating the Big Fish, Adam Morgan
charismatic brand
A brand that inspires a high degree of loyalty; also known as a lifestyle brand or passion brand | see Tribal Brand
clutter
The conceptual noise of the marketplace; a disorderly array of messages or elements that impedes understanding
co-branding
The purposeful linking of two or more brands for mutual benefit
co-creation
The collaborative development of a product, service, brand, or message
collaboration
The process by which people of different disciplines work in concert to build a brand; the practice of co-creation | read Serious Play and No More Teams!, Michael Schrage
command and control
A management style relying on clearly defined goals, processes, and measurements; top-down rather than bottom-up or distributed management
commoditization
The process by which customers come to see products, services, or companies as interchangeable, resulting in the erosion of profit margins; the opposite of brand-building | see Vicious Circle
concept map
A diagram showing the connections among a set of concepts
conceptual noise
Cognitive clutter arising from too many messages or meanings; any competing ideas that undermine clarity | see Clutter
consideration set
The range of brands that a customer considers when making a purchase decision; a category | see Category
coopetition
The cooperation of two competitors so that both can win | read Coopetition, Adam M. Brandenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff
core competencies
A set of capabilities (typically two or three) that gives a company a strategic advantage
core identity
The central, sustainable elements of a brand identity, usually the name and trademark | see Brand Identity, Trademark
core ideology
A combination of core values and core purpose | see Core Purpose, Core Values
core purpose
The reason a company exists beyond making a profit; part of a core ideology | see Core Ideology
core values
An enduring set of principles that defines the ethics of a company; part of a core ideology | see Core Ideology
corporate identity
The brand identity of a company, consisting of its visual identifiers such as the name, trademark, typography, and colors; a company’s trade dress | see brand identity, Trade Dress
creative brief
A document that sets parameters for a brand-building project, including context, goals, processes, and budgetary constraints
cultivation
The process of imbedding brand values throughout the organization; internal branding | read Building the Brand-Driven Business, Aaker, Davis and Dunn
cultural lock-in
The inability of an organization to change its mental models in the face of clear market threats | read Creative Destruction, Richard N. Foster and Sarah Kaplan
culture jamming
The act of modifying advertisements or brand messages to subvert their original intent; also known as subvertising | read Adbusters magazine
customer expectations
The anticipated benefits of a brand, whether explicit or implicit
customer goals
The “jobs” that customers “hire” a product, service, experience, or organization to do for them | read The Innovator’s Solution, Christensen and Raynor
descriptor
A term used with a brand name to describe the category in which the brand competes, such as “fluoride toothpaste” or “online bank” | see Category
design
In brand-building, the planning or shaping of products, services, environments, systems, communications, or other artifacts to create a positive brand experience | see Artifact
designing
The process of design; bringing together strategic and creative processes to achieve a shared goal | read Why Design?, published by AIGA
design management
The practice of integrating the work of internal and external design teams to align brand expressions with strategic goals
design research
Customer research on the experience and design of products or communication elements, using qualitative, quantitative, or ethnographic techniques | see Ethnography, Field test, one-on-one interview
differentiation
The process of establishing a unique market position to increase profit margins and avoid commoditization; the result of positioning | see Positioning | read Differentiate or Die, Jack Trout
disruptive innovation
A new product, service, or business that redefines the market; also called discontinuous innovation | see First Mover | read The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen
drive features
Brand attributes that are both important to customers and highly differentiated from those of competitors | see Brand Attribute | read The McKinsey Quarterly, May 2004
driver brand
In a brand portfolio, the brand that drives a purchase decision, whether master brand, subbrand, or endorser brand | see Brand Portfolio, Endorser Brand, Master Brand, Subbrand
earcon
An auditory brand symbol, such as United Airlines’ use of “Rhapsody in Blue” as a brand expression; an aural icon | see Icon
elevator pitch
A one-sentence version of a brand’s purpose or market position, short enough to convey during a brief elevator ride | see Market Position
emergent attribute
A feature, benefit, quality, or experience that arises from the brand, as opposed to the core product or service; an example is the friendliness of Google
emotional branding
Brand-building efforts that aim at customers’ feelings through sensory experiences | read Emotional Branding, Marc Gobé and Sergio Zyman
endorser brand
A brand that promises satisfaction on behalf of a subbrand or co-brand, usually in a secondary position to the brand being endorsed | see Co-Branding, Subbrand
envisioned future
A 10 to 30-year BHAG with vivid descriptions of what it will be like to reach the goal | see BHAG | read Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
Ethnography
The study of people in their natural settings; research to discover needs and desires that can be met with brand innovations
experience design
A focus
on shaping the experience of a customer or user, rather than on the artifacts themselves; the design of interactive media | see Artifact, Information Architect
extended identity
The elements that extend the core identity of a company or brand, organized into groupings such as brand personality, symbols, and positioning | see Brand Personality, Core Identity, Positioning, Symbol
extension
A new product or service that leverages the brand equity of a related product or service
evangelist
A brand advocate, whether paid or unpaid
feature
Any element of a product, service, or experience designed to deliver a benefit
feature creep
The addition of unnecessary elements to a product, service, or experience; sometimes called featuritis
field test
A type of qualitative research in which prototypes of products, packages, or messages are tested in real environments instead of laboratories | see Qualitative Research