A brand can be defined, in a broad sense of the word, as the set of tangible and intangible attributes that identify a product or service on the market.
To make a little history, it is possible that the concept of “brand” goes back as such to the 17th century with the advance of the Industrial Revolution, when the nascent factories had to look for a way to identify themselves and to stand out from the “many” factories that were starting to grow at that time, but above all, they had to look for a way to position themselves in the market and convince the customer that their brand contained attributes of quality or price that made them unique in the market.
But how do we relate to brands today? Imagine a common day for anyone who goes to work: his Apple-branded cell phone alarm clock rings, he dresses in a pair of Levis jeans and a Hugo Boss shirt, not without first using a Samsung shaver.
He prepares breakfast in a Phillips toaster, takes a Uber taxi that he previously requested from his same Apple cell phone, and whose car is a Nissan.
Before entering the office he decides to buy a Starbucks coffee, and once in the office he switches on an Apple computer again.
That is, all day long, from the beginning and until we fall asleep we are in a constant relationship and interweaving of brands.
Our life revolves around brands even if we are not fully aware of the importance they have in our lives.
But what function does a brand have in our environment and why are they so important?
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization the functions of a brand are:
- – To ensure that consumers distinguish products (a brand is a distinctive sign).
- – It allows companies to differentiate their products.
- – It is a marketing tool and allows the image and reputation of a company to be projected.
- – It can be licensed and provide a direct source of income through royalties.
- – It represents a determining factor in franchise agreements.
- – It can be an important business asset.
- – Encourages companies to invest in maintaining or improving product quality.
- – Can be useful in obtaining financing.
Let’s talk about what is the impact of brands, here are four fundamental issues: Creation: a brand is created by the intellect. Protection: registering that creation. Exploitation: Once the brand is created, it is now given a commercial use. And Defense: that is, when a trademark is successful, unfortunately there are always imitators and that is where piracy comes from.
Definition and type of trademarks:
Technically trademarks are called “distinctive signs”. Imagine a supermarket where nothing had a brand, how could you distinguish one product from another, it would be impossible to distinguish the quality between products, and this is only possible through brands. Now, what kind of brands do we have?
1. Nominative: these are the ones that only register the “name”, but there are other data that enrich the protection of the brand you want to register.
2. Figurative: the physical form is protected, that is to say, the design of a package or packaging.
A trademark is not only for a product but also for a service.
Trade names are also usually protected in the same way as a product or service, an example could be artists’ names or even someone’s signature can be registered and protected against possible misuse.
Within this range of trademark or product protection we have something called “appellation of origin”, which refers to some product that cannot be manufactured in another latitude for various reasons.
For example, Tequila is produced exclusively in the state of Jalisco and no one else in the world can produce Tequila. And the reasons are often because the ingredients are too specific or are merely local.
in conclusion the brand is everything. the brand is the seal that you as an entrepreneur or businessman will leave as an imprint on your consumers.
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