About Brands

Today I am learning about brands and brand management. A brand is a name, a logo, the ideas and products/services they represent. Some people think of a brand as just its logo. It is reasonable to come to that conclusion given the roots of the word 'brand'. If you are picturing, or maybe imagining the smell of, searing bovine flesh you are on the right track. The term gets its start in the 1550s when it meant "the mark made by hot iron." The mark migrated from the flank of cattle to the side of casks and crates as a way to identify their contents. By the 1880s we see the term expanding to include specific types of goods and a way for companies to identify and differentiate theirs from other products on the market. The goal is that the consumer recognizes the brand and associates it and the product with the seller.