Brand
(From wiki:) Branding is defined as "the process of creating a relationship or a connection between a company's product and emotional perception of the customer for the purpose of generating segregation among competition and building loyalty among customers." Or "a fulfillment in customer expectations and consistent customer satisfaction."
The origination of branding can be traced to ancient times, when specialists often put individual trademarks on hand-crafted goods. The branding of farm animals in Egypt in 2700 BC to avoid theft may be considered the earliest form of branding, as in its literal sense.
As somewhat more than half of companies older than 200 years old are in Japan, many Japanese businesses' "mon" or seal is an East Asian form of brand or trademark. In the West, Staffelter Hof dates to 862 or earlier and still produces wine under its name today. By 1266, English bakers were required by law to put a specific symbol on each product they sold. Branding became more widely used in the 19th century, through the industrial revolution and the development of new professional fields like marketing, manufacturing and business management. Branding is a way of differentiating product from mere commodities, and therefore usage of branding expanded with each advance in transportation, communication, and trade.
Any list of brands would be necessarily incomplete, but purely for example, Coca-cola, Apple, IBM, Google, Microsoft, GE, McDonald's, Intel, Samsung, and Toyota. The split between commodities/food services and technology is not a matter of chance: both industrial sectors rely heavily on sales to the individual consumer who must be able to rely on cleanliness/quality or reliability/value, respectively. For this reason, industries such as agriculture (which sells to other companies in the food sector), student loans (which have a relationship with universities/schools rather than the individual loan-taker), electricity (which is generally a controlled monopoly), and so on have less prominent and less valuable brands.
Among the most highly visible and recognizable brands is the red Coca-cola can. Despite numerous blind tests indicating that Coke's flavor is not preferred, Coca-Cola continues to enjoy a dominant share of the cola market. Coca-cola's history is so long that a folklore has sprung up around the brand, including the (refuted) myth that Coca-cola invented the red-dressed Santa-Claus which enjoys currency in less developed regions of the world such as the former Soviet Union and China, and such brand-management stories as "Coca-Cola's first entry into the Chinese market resulted in their brand being translated as 'bite the wax tadpole').
Brand is bull-shit
Over my entire life, I have no respect for brands. I have changed my brands several times. The reason for each change of brand is that I was bored with its symbol and I wanted something new. Each time, it costed me tons of money to change. After each change, the sale volume did not change a single significant bit. It was sale as usual as if nothing had happened. The new brand did not get affected at all by its newness and neither did any of my competition took advantage of my "newbie" brand and wacked me to hell's come. It was only then that I realised that there is no such thing as brands. Brands are mere figments of our imagination. See how fast Nokia was abandoned for Apple, and then from Apple to Samsung. But, every damn branding leeching guru swears by it as if the corporation depended on it for a chance to survive this "cruel" market-place. I must admit that when I see a huge range of my products being displayed on the shelves, there is a little feeling of pride. Of course, it was bloody hard work. But, pride itself can't sell me products. I can feel proud simply because I owned that business. But, consumers are not going to care about who's behind that name. They simply wanted the best bang for their money, be it, fashion, lifestyle, pride, show-off, utility, value-over-money, need, and etc.
Some brands are named after their dogs, cats, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, own name and what-have-you. In each and every instant, they always have a story to tell. Some of the brands are so ridiculous that I would never have named the brand that way. But, after 10 years, even the most ridiculous name becomes familiar and consumers start to identify with it.
If in the event overnight, Coca-cola were to change to blue colour and call itself "Cup-cake". The drinks will still sell. The value is not in the so-called brand. The key is in its distribution channels. For a newbie brand, its access to market is limited, hence, the poor results. But, I was no newbie supplier, although I have changed abruptly my brand name, but because of my existing access to market. I was not affected by any brand name change. The consumers just take the new brand name products due to need. There were no alternative. Since my old brand name disappeared overnight, the retailer just recommend the next best AVAILABLE thing on the shelves.
Therefore, after a considerable time on station, the product would have increased their market access points. The brand having more access points is now more famous and hence, now a branded entity. What a joke!
So don't be fooled by the word "Branding". Really, there is no such thing. Just put your nose on the grindstone and deliver that quality and price-value, you will be alright. Don't ever compromise on your product quality. Over time, the access points will increase and take care of its own distribution channels. You will then have become "branded". It is that simple.
Brand is local
Even with your best marketing plans with unlimited budget, you still can't beat their local brands. Local brands have been around for eons. They exist and then they die. Even after they die, another brand will take its place. One chick dies, one chick sings (一鸡死一鸡鳴). But, nonetheless, they will survive to eternity. They are like the trees growing in the local woods. Locally strong, locally hardy. No point trying to challenge them, they are here to stay.
So therefore work with these local brands, allow your products to be branded under their brands. Let them feel that they are holding your balls. But, since you own the Intellectual Property Rights of the product and manufacturing power. There is hardly anything they can do about it. So do a joint collaboration, there is simply no harm that can come your way. This way, it is a little symbiotic and it would be good for all participating parties.
Never try to brand the product international. It is useless. It will fail.
Dear Peeps,
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