At Piers and Dominic we will never try to bamboozle anyone with jargon but there are some industry recognised terms that you may find useful.
Don’t worry, we always use layman’s terms where possible and certainly wouldn’t try to use them all at the same time!
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z
A
Awareness Percentage of population or target market who are aware of the existence of a given brand or company. There can be two types of awareness :-
1. Spontaneous which measures the percentage of people who naturally mention a particular brand when asked to recall brands from a certain category.
2. Prompted measures the percentage of people who recognise a brand from a particular category when prompted by a list or photograph.
B
Brand A brand is a mixture of tangible and intangible attributes symbolised in a trademark or logo, which creates value and influence when managed coherently.
“Value” can mean different things to different markets eg. from a marketing/consumer perspective it is “the promise and delivery of an experience”. A business perspective would be “the security of future earnings” and a legal perspective would be “a separable piece of intellectual property.” Brands bring differentiation within cluttered markets enabling the customer the ability to choose.
Brand Architecture How an organisation structures its brands – services or products – and names the brands within its portfolio. There are three popular types of brand architecture system:-
1. Monolithic where the corporate name is used on all products and services offered by the company
2. Endorsed where all sub-brands are linked to the corporate brand via a verbal or visual endorsement
3. Freestanding where the corporate brand operates as a holding company and every service or product is individually branded for its target market.
Brand Associations The overall feeling, belief and knowledge that consumers (customers) have about a brand. These associations are acquired as a result of experiences consistent with the brand positioning.
Brand Commitment The degree of loyalty to which a customer has committed to a given brand and the likely-hood they will re-purchase/re-use in the future. The level of commitment indicates the degree the brand is protected from competitors.
Brand Definition See also Brand Platform. An overarching and top-line account of a brand, stakeholders associations with it and its behaviours – touching on all the areas mapped out in Brand Platform.
Brand Earnings The percentage of a business’s cashflow that can be attributed to the brand alone.
Brand Equity The sum of all distinguishing qualities of a brand. All relevant stakeholders + personal commitment + demand for the brand = brand value.
Brand Equity Protection Strategies in place to reduce risk and liability from the effects attributable to counterfeiting, tampering, diversion and theft ensuring differentiating feelings and thoughts about the brand are maintained and remain valued and valuable.
Brand Essence The brand’s promise expressed in the simplest, most single-minded terms. For example, Volvo = safety; AA = Fourth Emergency Service. The most powerful brand essences are rooted in a fundamental customer need.
Brand Experience The means by which a brand and its associations are created in the mind of a stakeholder. Some experiences can be controlled ie. retail environments, advertising, products/services, websites, etc. Some are harder to control eg. journalistic comment and word of mouth. Strong brands arise from consistent experiences and coherent messages which together form a distinctive overall brand experience.
Brand Extension Making use of the values of the brand to explore new markets/sectors.
Brand Harmonisation Ensuring consistency across products or services in a particular brand range. ie. naming, visual identity and, preferably, across a number of geographic or product/service markets.
Brand Identity The public expression of the brand, including its name and visual appearance. The brand’s identity is fundamental as means of consumer recognition and symbolises brand differentiation from competitors.
Brand Image The customer’s overall “take-out” of the brand. This is based on practical user experience of the product or service (also known as informed impressions) and how it meets expectations. For non-users it is based almost entirely upon uninformed impressions and beliefs.
Brand Licensing Permission by a brand owner of the use of a brand to another company. On-the-whole a licensing fee or royalty rate would be agreed for the use of the brand.
Brand Management This involves managing all the tangible and intangible aspects of the brand. For product brands the tangibles are the product, the packaging and the price, etc. For service brands (see Service Brands), the tangibles are customer experience – the retail environment, interaction with salespeople, overall satisfaction, etc. The intangibles are the same for product, service and corporate brands and refer to the emotional connections gathered as a result of experience, identity, people and communication.
Brand Mission See Brand Platform.
Brand Parity A measure of how similar, or different, different brands in the same category are perceived to be by their stakeholders. It can vary widely from one category to another eg: For petrol it is high: about 80% of respondents according to BBDO survey see no real difference between brands. For cars it is low with about 25% of respondents saying that one make is much the same as another.
Brand Personality The attribution of human personality traits (seriousness, warmth, imagination, etc.) to a brand as a way to achieve differentiation. These traits inform brand behavior through both prepared communication/packaging, etc, and through the people who represent the brand ie. its employees.
Brand Platform The Brand Platform consists of the following elements:
• Brand Vision The brand’s guiding insight into its world.
• Brand Mission How the brand will act on its insight.
• Brand Values The code by which the brand lives. The brand values act as a benchmark to measure behaviors and performance.
• Brand Personality The brand’s personality traits (See also definition for Brand Personality, Behaviours).
• Brand Tone of Voice How the brand speaks to its audiences.
Brand Positioning The exclusive position a brand assumes in its competitive environment to ensure differentiation in a target market. Positioning involves the careful handling of every element of the marketing mix.
Brand Promise The unique pledge to your stakeholders.
Brand Proposition A summary of what the brand offers, its difference and its importance to the customer
Brand Strategy The plan for the systematic development of a brand to enable it to meet its objectives. The strategy should be embedded in the brand’s vision and directed by the principles of differentiation and continuing consumer/customer appeal. The brand strategy should influence the operation of a business at every level to ensure coherent brand behaviors and experiences.
Brand Story An account of who you are and your company does. It’s strategic and can evolve in response to changing customers and markets.
Brand Tone of Voice See Brand Platform.
Brand Valuation Identifying and measuring the economic benefit of brand ownership – brand value.
Brand Values The code by which the brand lives. The brand values act as a benchmark to measure behaviors and performance. (See also Brand Platform.)
Brand Vision See Brand Platform.
Branding Selecting and blending tangible and intangible attributes to differentiate a product, service or corporation in an attractive, coherent, meaningful and engaging way.
C
Co-branding Use of two or more brand names in support of a new product, service or venture.
Consumer Product Goods (consumer goods) or services (consumer services) purchased for use by a private individual (the consumer) or for other members of the household.
Core Competencies A company’s particular areas of skill and competence that contribute to its ability to compete.
Corporate Identity Sometimes used to refer to the visual identity of a corporation (its logo, signage, etc.). but can also refer to an organisation’s presentation to its stakeholders and the means by which it differentiates itself from other organisations.
Counterfeiting When a fake product is packaged and presented to deceive the purchaser into believing it is from another established company or manufacturer.
Country of Origin Pretty obvious but interestingly a customers’ attitudes to a product can be heavily influenced by what they associate with the place where it was designed and manufactured.
Customer Characteristics Distinguishing one group of customers from another via distinctive, typical or peculiar characteristics and circumstances.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Keeping track of customer behaviour for the purpose of developing marketing and relationship-building processes that help continued customer engagement with a brand. This can be done through personal contact and/or computerised methods.
Customer Service The way in which the brand meets its customers’ needs via its various different channels (for example, over the telephone or Internet in the case of remote banking, or in person in the case of retail or entertainment).
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D
Demographics Description of visible traits that characterise a group of people eg. age, sex, nationality, marital status, education, occupation or income. Decisions on market segmentation can be based on this data.
Differential Product Advantage A unique, valuable feature of a product that is not found in other products in the same category.
Differentiation Creation or demonstration of unique characteristics in a company’s products or brands compared to those of its competitors.
Differentiator Any one tangible or intangible characteristic that distinguishes a product or a company from other products and companies.
Diversion aka parallel trading or grey market. A genuine product is sold to a buyer in one market/channel and then resold by the same buyer into another market/channel, without the consent of the brand owner, to take advantage of a price arbitrage situation.
E
Endorsed brand (See Brand Architecture.) A product or service brand name that is supported by a masterbrand. Can be dominant like Virgin Media or used more lightly e.g. Nestle Smarties.
F
FMCG Fast moving consumer goods. Frequently purchased consumer items, such as foods, cleaning products and toiletries.
Focus Group aka Group discussion. A qualitative research technique in which a group of about eight people is invited to a neutral venue to discuss a given subject, for example hand-held power tools. The principle is the same as an in-depth interview, except that group dynamics help to make the discussion livelier and more wide-ranging. Qualitative groups enable the researcher to probe deeper into specific areas of interest (for example, the nature of brand commitment). The result is a better understanding of broader data which may lead to general trends or observations.
Freestanding Brand (See Brand Architecture.) A brand name and identity used for a single product or service in a portfolio, which is unrelated to the names and identities of other products in the company’s portfolio.
G
Goods A product consisting of mostly tangible values although all goods have intangible values to a greater or lesser extent.
Group Discussion See Focus Group.
K
Keywords On the web ‘Keywords’ are the words used by a website to draw clients to it via search engines. Increasing the number of times the ‘Keywords’ are used in the content of the website can increase a search engines rating and positioning of that website when a search using those ‘Keywords’ is carried out.
I
Intangibles “Intangible” - incapable of being touched. Intangible brand assets include trademarks, copyrights, databases, design rights, patents etc. Intangible brand attributes include brand names, logos, colors, graphics, shapes and smells. (See Service Brand.)
L
Launch The initial marketing of a new product to come to a particular market. The success of the launch can greatly affect the product’s profitability throughout its lifecycle.
M
Market Leader A company that has achieved a dominant position within its field – either through scale (e.g., British Airways) or influence (e.g., Virgin). A leading position often happens because the company was first to market with a certain type of product (often with the protection of a patent) and has managed to amas its position before competition was possible. Alternatively, a company may overtake a previous market leader through greater efficiency and skillful positioning.
Market Position A measure of the position of a company or product on a market. Market share x share of mind = market position.
Market Segment A group of customers who share the same needs and values and can be expected to respond in a similar way to a company’s offering, and enjoy enough purchasing power to be of strategic importance to the company.
Market Share Can be expressed either in terms of volume (how many units sold) or value (the worth of units sold). A company’s share of total sales in a given category of product within a market.
Mass Marketing Synchronised and standardised marketing to a large target market through mass media.
Masterbrand A brand name that dominates all products or services in a range or across a business. Sometimes used with sub-brands, sometimes used with alpha or numeric signifiers. (See also Monolithic Brand.) For example Audi, Durex, Nescafe and Lego.
Mission The companies reason for doing.
Monolithic Brand Single brand name that is used to “masterbrand” all products or services in a range. Individual products are nearly always identified by alpha or numeric signifiers. For example Mercedes and BMW.
Multibrand Strategy /Multiple Branding Marketing of two or more mutually competing products under different brand names by the same company. Motives would be:-
1. To create internal competition to promote efficiency.
2. Differentiate its offering to different market segments.
3. Get maximum mileage out of established brands that it has acquired.
When a company achieves a dominant market share a multibrand strategy may be its only option for increasing sales further without sacrificing profitability. For example, Lever Brothers sells washing powders under the Persil and Surf names.
N
Names There are three basic categories of brand (or corporate) name:
1. Descriptive A name which describes the product or service e.g., Mastercard.
2. Associative A name that alludes to an aspect or benefit of the product or service, often by means of an original or striking image or idea, e.g., Visa.
3. Freestanding A name which has no link to the product or service but which might have meaning of its own, e.g., Virgin.
There are also Abstract names which are invented and have no meaning of its own, e.g., ZENECA, and are a sub-set of freestanding names. Coined names are in some way invented and can be descriptive (CO-CREATE), associative (IMATION) and freestanding/abstract (ZENECA).
Niche Marketing Marketing targeted to the needs, wishes and expectations of small, precisely defined groups of individuals. Niche marketing characteristically uses targeted selective media.
O
OEM market OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturers. The OEM market consists of companies that use another company’s product as a component in their own production. A manufacturer of brake pads, for example, sells both to OEM customers who use brake pads in their vehicles, and to end users who need brake pads as spare parts for vehicles that they have bought from the OEMs. Therefore, most manufacturing companies have an OEM market and a replacement market – aka the MRO market or aftermarket.
Offering What a company offers for sale to customers. An offering includes the product and its design, features, quality, packaging, distribution, etc., together with associated services such as financing, warranties and installation. The name and brand of the product are also part of the offering.
P
Parent Brand A brand endorses one or more sub-brands within a range.
Passing Off This is the name given to legal action required to protect the “reputation” of a particular trademark/brand/set up. The action is designed to prevent others from trading on the reputation/goodwill of an existing trademark/brand/set up. The action is available in countries that recognise unregistered trademark rights (eg. UK and US). Sometimes it is called “unfair competition action.”
Perceptual Mapping Graphic Analysis presentation of where actual and potential customers place a product or supplier in relation to other products and suppliers. Most perceptual maps show only two dimensions at a time, for example price on one axis and quality on the other, although it is possible to graphically analyse and present data in three or more dimensions.
Positioning Statement A written description of the position a company wishes itself, its product or its brand to occupy in the minds of its target audience.
Power Branding Every product in a company’s range has its own brand name which functions independently, unsupported by either the company’s corporate brand or its other product brands. Power branding is a labour-intensive and expensive strategy because each brand must be commercially promoted and legally protected. This strategy is used mainly by manufacturers of consumer goods eg. Lever’s and Procter & Gamble’s detergent brands.
Product Brand A brand which is synonymous with a particular product offering, for example, Cheerios
R
Rebrand When a brand owner revisits the brand with the purpose of updating or revising because the brand has outgrown its identity/marketplace or is necessary after a merger or acquisition.
Relative Market Share One company’s market share compared to that of a competitors. A large share has the advantage of scale in product development, manufacturing and marketing. It also puts you in a stronger position in the minds of customers, which can have a positive effect on pricing.
Relaunch Reintroducing a product that was previously marketed, but stopped, into a specific market. Sometimes a relaunched product has usually undergone one or more changes eg. be technically modified, rebranded, distributed through different channels or repositioned.
Repositioning Communications activities to give an existing product a new position in customers’ minds altering its potential market. Many potentially valuable products can under achieve because they were launched or positioned inadequately. It is almost always possible to enhance the value of such products by repositioning them.
Rollout The process a company introduces a new product or service to different geographical markets or consumer segments.
S
Secondary system Anything other than the logo/logotype in the toolkit that enables the brand to be articulated on a host of applications. Eg. colour, typography, language, graphic elements, photography and even aural sounds.
Selective Media aka targeted media. Unlike mass media, selective media reaches only small and identifiable groups of people eg. members of a particular profession or industry or groups defined by geographic, demographic or psychographic data.
Service Brand A product consisting predominantly of intangible values. A service is something that you do for somebody, or a promise that you make to them or in the words of The Economist “A service is something that you can buy and sell, but not drop on your foot”.
Share of Voice The media spending of a particular brand when compared to others in its category.
Single Minded Proposition (SMP)A short phrase, usually a couple of words, that is used to drive a creative process whether it be photography, design or writing. Only used for briefing internally and never broadcast to an external market.
Sub-brand A product or service brand that had its own name and visual identity to differentiate it from the parent brand.
T
Tangibles “Tangible” - capable of being touched. Tangible assets include manufacturing plant, bricks and mortar, cash, investments, etc. Tangible brand attributes include product and packaging. Tangible brand values are the useful qualities of the brand known to exist through experience and knowledge.
Target Market The group of customers or market segment that a company chooses to serve and aim its marketing activities.
Top-of-Mind The manufacturer or brand that people in market surveys name first when asked to list products in a specific category.
Trademark “Any sign capable of being represented graphically which is capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of another undertaking” (UK Trade Marks Act 1994).
Trademark Infringement A trademark registration is infringed by the unauthorised use of the registered trademark, or of one that is confusingly similar to it, on the registered goods or services, or in certain circumstances on similar or dissimilar goods and services.
Trendsetter Someone or thing that breaks a mold or routine and becomes popular because of it. iMac is an example of trendsetting in design as now office supplies come in the familiar colors and translucent packaging of an iMac.
U
User Segmentation Division of potential customers into market segments according to how and for what purpose they may use a product eg. Cigarette lighter fluid can be used for cigarette lighters and solvent-based cleaner.
V
Values and Behaviours Values are a set of principles that a company believes in and lives by. Behaviours remind the company how to maintain them.
Value Proposition A value proposition is an analysis and quantified review of the benefits, costs and value that an organisation can deliver to customers and other groups within and outside of the organisation.
Vision A statement giving a broad, aspirational image of the future that an organization is aiming to achieve.
Visual Identity What a brand looks like – including, among other things, its logo, typography, packaging and literature systems.