What a Brand Is and What a Brand Isn’t

A brand is not:

  • a trade mark – these are leagal properties
  • a mission statement – this is a reminder
  • a logo or a slogan – these are your signatures
  • a product or a service – these are just the tangibles
  • advertising – they deliver your messages

A brand is:

  • Point of view – branding is a strategic point of view, not a select set of marketing activities
  • Customer value – branding is central to creating customer value, not just sound bites and images
  • Competitive advantage – branding is key tool for creating and sustaining competitive advantage
  • Engineered – brand strategies must be “engineering” into the strategic planning process
  • Alive – brands get their identity from meanings. Products and services are the blood of a brand. Your organizational culture and standards for action are the heartbeat.
  • Logic and emotion – branding is part science and part art

Source

Visa Re-Branding – Life Takes Visa

Visa today unveiled its first new branding direction in 20 years, according to Suzanne Lyons, its executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

The tagline, ending the decades-long reign of “It’s everywhere you want to be,” is “Life takes Visa,” Lyons said. Although the tagline was used in the last couple of years in English-language communications in Latin American countries (actually Visa is using 5 different taglines for 6 different regions of the world – more here), TBWA\Chiat\Day decided to go with it and start promoting it next week during the Winter Olympics Openning ceremony.

The new brand campaign is the latest in a series of milestones marking Visa adapting its brand to its corporate evolution, with recently introduced new governance structure; new brand architecture, including a new logo and a new card design. More about the new branding campaign here: http://www.visa.com/advertising.