Brand Elements
brands
typically are made up of various elements, such as:
Name: The word or words used to identify a company, product, service, or concept.
Logo: The visual trademark that identifies the brand.
Tagline or Catchphrase: "The Quicker Picker Upper" is associated with Bounty paper towels. "Can you hear me now" is an important part of the Verizon brand.
Graphics: The dynamic ribbon is a trademarked part of Coca-Cola's brand.
Shapes: The distinctive shapes of the Coca-Cola bottle and of the Volkswagen Beetle are trademarked elements of those brands.
Colors: Owens-Corning is the only brand of fiberglass insulation that can be pink.
Sounds: A unique tune or set of notes can denote a brand. NBC's chimes are a famous example.
Scents: The rose-jasmine-musk scent of Chanel No. 5 is trademarked.
Tastes: Kentucky Fried Chicken has trademarked its special recipe of eleven herbs and spices for fried chicken.
Movements: Lamborghini has trademarked the upward motion of its car doors.
The brand name is quite often used interchangeably with "brand", although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of any product. In this context a "brand name" constitutes a type of trademark, if the brand name exclusively identifies the brand owner as the commercial source of products or services. A brand owner may seek to protect proprietary rights in relation to a brand name through trademark registration and such trademarks are called "Registered Trademarks". Advertising spokespersons have also become part of some brands, for example: Mr. Whipple of Charmin toilet tissue and Tony the Tiger of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.
Brand names come in many styles. A few include:
Initialism: A name made of initials such as UPS or IBM
Descriptive: Names that describe a product benefit or function like Whole Foods or Airbus
Alliteration and rhyme: Names that are fun to say and stick in the mind like Reese's Pieces or Dunkin' Donuts
Evocative: Names that evoke a relevant vivid image like Amazon or Crest
Neologisms: Completely made-up words like Wii or Kodak
Foreign word: Adoption of a word from another language like Volvo or Samsung
Founders' names: Using the names of real people,and founder's name like Hewlett-Packard, Dell or Disney
Geography: Many brands are named for regions and landmarks like Cisco and Fuji Film
Personification: Many brands take their names from myth like Nike or from the minds of ad execs like Betty Crocker
The act of associating a product or service with a brand has become part of pop culture. Most products have some kind of brand identity, from common table salt to designer jeans. Abrandnomer is a brand name that has colloquially become a generic term for a product or service, such as Band-Aid or Kleenex, which are often used to describe any brand of adhesive bandage or any brand of facial tissue respectively.