What Is A Brand?

What’s a brand? Is a brand a logo? A tagline? A company? Using the same three colors in all your marketing materials?

Harley Davidson, Apple, The St. Louis Cardinals… even if, at this point, you’re not sure exactly what a brand is, you’re pretty sure all three of those are brands, right?

And you’re also pretty sure brands are everywhere, aren’t you? You’re right, of course, but I’m not sure you know just how right you are.

Your grandma.

When you read those words – “your grandma” – silently to yourself, what mental images come to mind?

The way she looks? The sound of her voice? Maybe a smell of her perfume or her cooking? What about her laugh and the feelings you had of going to grandma’s house?

Your grandma’s a brand.

A brand is a collection of feelings, sights, smells, tastes, emotions, and sounds that we recall when we think about a person, place, thing, or company.

You don’t even need to have met… or done business with that brand… to have an opinion of her, him, or it.

Have you ever met Santa Claus personally? And yet, I’m certain you have very powerful memories and feelings and associations that come with those two simple words I typed.

The same is true for any and all words – though some will have more powerful associations with you than others… and other people will have more powerful associations with other words, thoughts, actions, and ideas.

Companies nearly always state a goal of increase top-of-mind-awareness or unaided recall among consumers, but that’s only half the battle. You need to – through your marketing – associate a powerful collection of feelings and sensory responses to your company’s name.

When I say “Harley Davidson,” you have a certain sequence of sensorial and emotional evocations – it might include the sound of the bike’s engine, or it might include visions of a particular bike or you might feel the wind on your face from a particular ride. If you had a bad service experience at your local dealer, that would come to mind as well.

When I say “Apple,” you might think something completely different than me, or we might conjure up similar mental image sequences.

That’s the goal of any company – to make your feelings and imagery the same as – or at least close to – mine and your neighbor’s.

So, that’s a brand… simplified. I hope it helps you understand and see brands in a different light because once you see them for what they really are, you can begin to better control your own.

Now, when I say “Chicago Cubs,” what mental images arise?