Branding: Meaning of Brand, Brand Name, Trade Mark, and Qualities of a Good Brand Name

What is Brand?

"A name, term, symbol, or design or a combination of them, which is intended to identify the goods of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors." - American Marketing Association

Thus a brand means a mark made on commodities to indicate its quality and manufacturer. To brand a product means to stamp it with some identifying mark or name.
Branding is the process of starting a product with some identifying name or mark or a combination of both. In other words, branding means giving a distinct individuality to a product.

Brand Name

 A Brand name consists of words, letters, and/or numbers which may be vocalised. A Brand mark is that part of the brand which appears in the form of a symbol, design, or distinctive colouring or lettering. It is recognised by sight.

Business firms generally use 3 types of branding: 

1. Symbol and Marks, like Rath Vanaspati, and Taj Mahal Tea.
2. Special Names, such as Ortem Fans, Lux soap and Parker Pen.
3. Names of the product and manufacturer, like Videocon Television, Apple iPhone, Tata Steel, Godrej Refrigerator, Modi Xerox, etc. 

Trade Mark

Trade Mark is a legal term. It refers to a brand which is registered with the Government under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. Thus, all brand names or marks cannot be termed as trademarks. Only those brand names or marks which are registered with the Government are known as trade marks.

Qualities of a Good Brand Name

Since there are many benefits of branding a product, it is essential that a good brand name should be selected. A good brand name should possess as many of the following features as may be possible:

1. The brand name should be easy to pronounce, spell and remember. It should be short also.    For example, Amul, Natraj, Apsara, Titan, Apple, etc. are short words. These could be easily read and remembered at all.
2. If possible, the brand name should suggest something about the products benefits, uses, purpose, quality or performance. For instance, Sunsilk suggests hair shine like the sun, and softness of silk.
3. The brand name or design should be attractive to the eyes such as Apple, or Dairy Milk etc.
4. The brand name should be unique or distinctive. It should be clearly identifiable even in the crouded market place. For instance, Cinthol, Perk, Amul, etc. possess this quality. 
5. The brand name should be appropriate and suitable to the product as for instance, Bajaj Chetak for scooters, Maruti Suzuki for cars, Britannia Nutrichoice for biscuits, Boost for the health drink, etc.
6. The brand should have a stable life, its life should not be affected by the changes in fashion or styles. Philips, Bournvita, Saridon, Surf, and HMT are some examples in this regard. 
7.  The brand name should be capable of being registered. This will protect the brand-holder from imitation by the rivals.