Literature Review on Brand

“A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or combination of these which is used to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.” (Kotler et al, 2002, p 16)

According to the definition of American Marketing Association (A.M.A.) a brand is “a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name.” Technically speaking, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, symbol, etc for a new product or service, he or she has created a brand (Keller, 2003).

A brand is both a physical and a perceptual entity. The physical aspect of a brand can be found located on a market shelf or in the delivery of a service. The perceptual aspect of a brand exists in psychological space – in the minds of consumers’ (American Demographics, 1994).

In the 19th century with the advent of packaged products the term brand and branding came into place in the field of marketing. With the help of industrialization the production of many household items moved from local producers to centralized factories. When shipping their ordered goods, the producers would literally brand their logo on the barrels used, which is where the term comes from.

Keller (2003) summarised the marketing advantages of strong brands as:
 improved perceptions of product performance
 greater loyalty
 less vulnerability to marketing crises
 less vulnerability to competitive marketing actions
 more inelastic consumer response to price increases
 more elastic consumer response to price decreases
 larger margins
 greater trade cooperation and support
 increased marketing communication effectiveness
 possible licensing opportunities
 additional brand extension opportunities

A brand carries both physical and perceptual views. The physical view of a brand can be found located on a supermarket shelf or in the delivery of a service. On the other hand, the perceptual view of a brand exists in psychological space: in the minds of consumers.