Page - 1

All over the world, with so many different meanings and perceptions of the word "branding", it appears that it has lost its true meaning; the terminology is more like a walk through a museum with a glorious past. Loose words like "economy" carry different
meanings that speak differently to different people. To some, economy may refer to money, while to others, it means jobs, whereas for some, it's the thing causing climate changes. Hold it right there! Branding gets even more adventurous. To many, it's about having a business card with psychedelic logo, all the way to the polishing of door-knobs to improve an image; while to others, it's about getting ahead of the economy. So what's the difference between branding and economy? Now these are the terminology confusions that call for candid discussions.

Branding was once a very noble profession during the last century, but today, it is mostly entangled with general advertising, and is losing its power and message. As long as anyone can claim to be an instant master of this art, very little can be said about its integrity.

Many decades ago, ad-agencies mastered the craft to entice, hunt and capture customers. This century, the search engines offering brand new tools that empower the customers to hunt for the best deals are making the traditional branding craft almost obsolete. The search engine has made all deal-options so easily accessible that customers can stalk around the globe like 24/7 predators, calling the shots while zeroing in on their most desired purchases. As a result, traditional advertising has become a noise for deaf ears, while branding entrapped into fancy graphic works has become an overly expensive redundancy. Customers no longer want to be dragged to what should they buy; they are now masters of their own domain.

This alone is a massive paradigm shift, and requires a brand new thought process. Price, quality and value is what's driving customer behavior and bottom-line issues, persuasive ads were great when things were scarce, and today, in the age of super abundance, no one is waiting anxiously for the next big annual catalogue with a new line-up of new products, as the world is opening its parade of exotic things round the clock. This change of buying habits has created the vacuum in all of the last century mediums.

Most businesses are overly cluttered with over-sold graphics and are now expecting miracles to happen to their old-fashioned branding solutions. 99% of the current brand name identities are already stuck in an illusionary fame without any real ownership, basically in oblivion.

Next

Naseem Javed, recognized as a world authority on corporate image and global name identities, is a harsh critic of casual and accidental naming. He is a dynamic speaker on corporate image and branding issues, and is also the author of Naming for Power. He founded ABC Namebank International, an image and branding consultancy over 25 years ago.
Website: www.abcnamebank.com