Brand is everywhere. So, where do Brands live? Look around and you will find yourself surrounding within Brands. It lives in your everyday’s life. Look in the refrigerator or in kitchen cabinets, underneath kitchen sink, in supermarkets isles, or in the drawer of your office. Brands ultimately live in the minds of customers.

The American Marketing Association, a professional association for marketers across the US, defines a Brand as a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”

In past, it was just a logo or a design of a company who want to spread a word out about their product or service. The definition of a Brand evolved pretty significantly throughout in past decade. Today, it is much more than just a logo or a design. Brand is all about the customers’ opinion about the product, expectation, experience, memory, relationships which collectively are the grounds where the customers’ returns and choose the same product or service. These are the factors on which customers’ choose one product or service over another. Brand is a promise and expectation. It is an unspoken contract company makes with their customers.

What does Branding do?
Branding does lot of things. Brand returns the promise and customers’ expectations. So what is the Brand promise? This usually doesn’t convey in the advertising but it reflects ultimately what it means. What do you think when you think about Disneyland. It’s a magical experience. It is a bonding time in a family. It lives in your mind as a life time memory. Whenever you think about magic or magical moments, you automatically think about Disney experience. Ultimately, this promise creates the relationships. The expectation of fun and happiness, spend a quality of time with a family, the experience you will receive when you visit Disneyland.

Starbucks. What comes to your mind when you hear a word Starbucks? A lifestyle or connection, right? Do you know that Starbucks didn’t spend a single dollar on advertising before 2009? At present, Starbucks is the largest coffee shop in the world, who owns more than 17000 stores worldwide. Brand gives you a promise that the customers’ will receive when they use your product or service. Brand makes you feel greater when they are part of it. This easily blends well in customers’ lifestyle – coffee and connections.

Do you want to know what these top Brands worth?
The fight between the top 10 most valuable Brands continues as we enter in 2012. As of today, the coca-cola remained on top; valued at 71.86 billion followed by IBM 69.90 billion, and Microsoft 59.08 billion as a 3rd place.

The question you might have now but why Brand?
Because Brand identifies the truth
Because Brand tells the story
Because Brand have appeal
Because Brand increase revenue
Because Brand builds valuable emotional ties.
Brands are all around us. Which lives in our; customers’ mind…that is Brand.
It is an unspoken contract we make by choosing to employ same product or service over and over…that is Brand.