What is Branding? Everything to Know in Summary

Branding is a topic I'll like to address today (for the first time). It is one of the things we come across everyday as we journey through life. We can see different businesses operating on the street, and even in our backyard.

We come across different brand everyday and even purchase from them. However, most of us are not entirely familiar with the word "Brand" and all that it entails. A complete understanding of branding is unknown to many of us.

What comes to most people's mind when they heard the word "Branding" is "Business", which, in most cases, is not true. Branding is a process... the end result usually differs based on the builder, the owner, the founder, or the leader's idea.

Branding means "naming", at least, if we are to define it in a proper way. Naming of things, person, product, and even business is generally termed branding. The name could be anything as long as it resonate with your idea.

Generally speaking, branding is mostly about idea. Putting a tag on an idea that you want people to know about can include a lot of process; creating or building something from scratch can involve spending a lot of time and energy, but how people gets to know about it is called branding, that is, putting a name on it.

For instance, let's say I develop an app that let people communicate with each other through WiFi. Without naming the app, it will be difficult for people to know about it.

There's nothing on earth that does not have a name. Even the language we speak has a name. The naming (or branding) of things around us is not a new thing—it is something that we grow up to know.

For people to know about something, it has to have a name.

If am to go by Merriam Webster definition (Thesaurus), branding is "a device (as a word) identifying the maker of a piece of merchandise and legally reserved for the exclusive use of that person or company."

According to the definition, a brand name is mostly trademarked when it has to do with trade.

Must read: Relationship between Content Creation and Branding

There are big companies (i.e. Amazon) operating all over the world—the name of these companies are exclusive and are not permitted to be used by any other person or company to market a product. Why? Because the name has become their identity.

It will be counted as a fraud to use their name to build, to promote, or to sell any product.

For a business to become a brand, it has to go through a process called naming. The name is what people will identify with. The naming does not necessarily have to be in words. It can be a symbol, a logo e.t.c.

In summary, for a thing to be seen as a brand, it must have something that people will be able to identify with it. The process involved is called naming and the outcome is called branding.

Hope you've learnt something today. Do you have any question? If you have, please drop it in the comment section below. If you'll like to add to what I said, you are welcome.