Glossary

Nomenclature

A company’s system and practices for naming its business units, products, and services and the relationship and connections they must have to each other.  Typically, a nomenclature system would include the holding company, operating companies, subsidiaries and divisions, business units, and all the products and services of these entities, and the relationships among them.

Objective

A specific task to be performed in pursuit of a goal (see term).

Parent Brand

The holding company or traded entity that has the capacity to stand alone (eg, Ford, Coca-cola, Levis Strauss) to represent a core product or service, or support related products and services by sharing its brand through endorsement (See Architecture).

Portfolio (Brand)

The complete collection of brands that a company owns.

Positioning (Brand)

The analytical process a company initiates to determine – based on their brand’s image, competencies, industry, customers, and competitors – how they should competitively situate their brand for optimal differentiation and market effectiveness.

Positioning Statement

A simple, concise written statement of the concept and parameters behind a brand meant to convey a brand’s supported point of distinction relative to competitors.

Promise (Brand)

A pledge or assurance of some measure of performance that a customer is intended to attach to a product or service as part of its brand image (see term).

Research

Qualitative and/or quantitative data on branding or identity issues that is gathered and analyzed to validate or steer a positioning and/or creative direction.

Revitalization (Brand)

The process of making a brand relevant to its current audiences by reassessing a brand’s positioning and the equity of its brand identity elements and modifying or changing each where necessary.