[Sigia-l] Brand Creation

[Thomas Quine]

Richard Weigel wrote: 

>Once upon a time there was the product, and the product was good. It
became >well known, well respected and profitable. It gained the status
of "Brand". 

One way to look at the concept of "Branding" is to remember that the
term originated with cattle branding. A unique symbol (think "logo")
such as the "Triple Bar" or "Bar N" was burned into the flesh of the cow
with a hot iron. This deterred thieves from stealing cattle and trying
to sell them as their own.

Over time, a particular brand came to mean much more than just an
identifying mark on a cow. It came to symbolize the quality of the
cattle coming from that ranch, and to local people it came to symbolize
the range of experience they had in their dealings with that ranch. 

Many ranches in the American West began putting up signs at the gate
featuring their brand "logo", and some even called themselves after
their brand (e.g. Circle K Ranch, Lazy S Ranch, and so on.)

Where branding crossed over into advertising is where people began to
realize that the relationship of trust, respect, and even admiration for
any business entity from a local ranch to a multinational corporation
could be symbolized.

Every interaction between a business entity and the public is an
opportunity to build or reinforce a relationship of trust and respect -
or to erode it. This is why branding matters to those of us who create
user experiences.

My point is that the brand is a symbol of the relationship between a
producer and a consumer, a relationship composed of a history of
interactive experiences between them. While all producers make products,
product is really only one facet of this relationship. 

- Thom