IDENTITY DESIGN AND BRANDING
A brand is a collection of experiences and associations attached to a company, organization, product or service; more specifically, brand refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, organization, product or service. Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the accumulation of experiences and associations with the specific company, organization, product or service, both directly relating to its function, and through the influence of advertising, design, media commentary and word to mouth. A brand in turn serves to create associations and expectations. Ultimately "the brand" is any element which, in the minds of consumers or audience, differentiates a company, organization, product or service from competitors. A brand often includes explicit logos, fonts, color schemes, symbols, sound which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and even personality. The brand, and "branding" and brand equity have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as "cultural accessories and personal philosophies". In non-commercial contexts, the marketing of entities which supply ideas or promises rather than product and services (e.g. political parties or religious organizations) may also be known as "branding". A product or service can easily be copied but a brand can not. Branding differentiates similar products in our current day society, and can in many instances be described as the good warm feeling one receives when interacting with a particular brand. More often than not when considering why some companies and products are more successful than others, a solid inside-out brand strategy aligned with stakeholder expectation can explain the phenomenon.

Article by: www.Wikipedia.org