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So What’s A Brand, Anyway?

Updated: Jun 30, 2021

When we hear about brands, many often confuse the term with things like logos, slogans, or other recognizable marks, which are marketing tools that help promote goods and services.


Brands are considered to be among a company's most important and valuable assets. The difference between CRDB and Access Bank, or Vodacom and Airtel or Total and Engene is branding. Historically, Brands took off after companies started packaging their goods in the late 1880s to distinguish themselves from other companies. In the 13th century, Italians began putting watermarks on their paper as a form of branding. The other term for branding comes from cow farmers, who used to brand their livestock as a form of identification from cows from other farmers.


The term brand is referred to as a relationship between a business and its marketing concepts that help the public identify a particular company. A brand and a company are often inseparable because many companies are identified as their brand. A brand is an intangible collection of tools that shape people’s perceptions towards company products, service or an individual. When a company enters a new space, they naturally want to set themselves apart from others who provide similar products in the market. New companies go through a process of finding professionals that help identif