​Acronym – Brand names formed from the initial letters (or parts) of a series of words.

Area of Influence – The area covered by a brand in terms of reach to consumers. Market niche fulfilled by brand and brand message.

Brand Awareness – The measure of how many people know a brand exists.

Brand Architecture – the relative structure of an organization’s brands, i.e. a brand “family tree.”

Brand Asset – Any aspect of a brand that has strategic value — e.g., visual symbols, slogans, sounds, photos, mascots, etc.

Brand Association – To what the brand can be linked, mental connection to and recall of brand.

Brand Attributes – A specific set of characteristics that identify the visual, verbal and behavioral traits of the brand, just as personality attributes characterize the people we know.

Brand Charter – An organization’s brand constitution. The document that defines, justifies and appropriates the brand.

Brand Consistency – The ability of the brand to remain consistent throughout all brand usage.

Brand Development – The methodical evaluation, construction and continued monitoring of brand.

Brand Efficacy – Brand’s ability to produce the desired result.

Brand Equity – Brand’s value over other brands. Brand Family – A group of brands under the same umbrella of development.

Brand Gap – The difference between the brand’s strategy and the actual experience.

Brand Identity – The way a brand presents itself to the consumer; who the brand is.

Brand Image – The mental associations, ideas, feelings and beliefs people think of when they see or hear a brand.

Brand Loyalty – Extended brand preference and deliberate decision to repeat purchase of the brand.

Brand Management – The process by which an organization’s brand is directed like any other business unit. Brand Meaning – How the brand is defined in the mindset of the consumer.

Brand Message – The expression of the brand meaning to the consumer.

Brand Mythology – The story behind the brand’s derivation and meaning.

Brand Permission – What the brand can and cannot do according to the Brand Charter.

Brand Personality – The look and feel of the brand through the eyes of the consumer. What the brand wants to outwardly emit to the consumer.

Brand Planning – Action plan toward brand development and implementation.

Brand Positioning – Brand positioning is the mindset of the brand. Where the brand stands and what the brand believes in accordance to the consumer.

Brand Positioning Statement – A clear, concise, focused statement capturing the essence of a brand’s differentiation. (Compare with “Unique Selling Proposition.”)

Brand Preference – The deliberate decision to choose one brand over another.

Brand Product Relationship – The tangible relationship between the brand and the product represented by the brand. The brand must make sense from the perspective of the product, and vice versa.

Brand Promise – The brand’s guarantee to fulfill a specific need for the consumer and for itself in an ever-changing market.

Brand Recall – Simple, immediate recognition and memory of a brand. Brand Recognition – The ability of consumers to recognize a brand, know that it exists, and know that it is a purchasing alternative.

Brand Steward – An individual whose responsibility is to manage, monitor and adjust the brand according to the Brand Charter.

Brand Strategist – An individual dedicated to the development and analysis of brand and branding practices.

Brand Strategy – The plan of execution conducted for a brand in order to increase the brand’s market share and optimize brand functioning.

Brand Style Guide – The document defining the rules of the brand usage regarding language, printed materials, design, etc.

Brand Trigger – A specific characteristic or message of a brand that causes change.

Brand Visioning – The projected path of action upon which the brand needs to tread in order to steal share from the competition and increase market share.

Brand – Representation of consumer perception of and feeling toward a product/service.

Brandface – Who the consumer believes himself to be when using or deciding to purchase a brand.

Branding – The active process of Brand Development.

Challenger Brand – A new or rising brand that is viable in spite of other existing brands dominating the category.

Coined Name – A brand name that’s been invented or made up — e.g., Kodak, Experian. The advantage of such names is that they are easier to trademark and can be given their own meaning.

Competitive Audit – A close analysis of a brand’s competition within the market that defines the other brands present to the consumer.

Competitive Set – The group of competitive brands within the market.

Connection – The bond between the consumer and the brand.

Copy – This can be long-form or short-form copy, and it's written by a copywriter to reinforce a given brand and sell its products.

Core Values – The principles, ethos and philosophical ideology that all employees of an organization are expected to use, live by and demonstrate on a daily basis.

Corporate Identity – Logo, signature system, and any other visual representation of the business.

Creative Brief – A document that assists an organization in their advertising efforts whose purpose is to keep messaging in line with the brand strategy and brand charter.

Decision Tree – The rational/emotional timeline leading up to brand purchase where the customer evaluates their wants and needs.

Design Grid – The hidden, underlying system of spatial units defining the organization’s use of imagery and how content is structured in two-dimensional layouts.

Differentiation – What separates one brand from another in the mind of customers.

Eponym – Names created around fictional (or real) characters.

Equity Markers – A brand’s vantage points and points of differentiation.

Equity – The value a brand possesses over other brands.

House of Brands – A business that has multiple brands that are not necessarily part of the same family or are independent from each other and the Parent Brand.

Influencer Element – The element that causes a change in behavior.

Initialism – A group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter being pronounced separately.

Logo – The Corporate Identity element of the brand that visually identifies the product/service for the consumer (visual reflection of the brand).

Logotype – The stylized lettering often employed in a logo — separate from the symbol or icon.

Mark – The symbol, presented graphically, of the brand.

Market Matrix – The visually plotted space on a set of axes that represents the space for brand opportunity within the market space.

Market Share – The overall amount of the market from which a brand benefits and owns.

Mind Map – An image, centered around a key concept, with related words and concepts that represent semantic or other connections linked with the key concept using lines and/or arrows.

Mission Statement – A short, formal written statement of an organization’s purpose, defining its scope and focus in plain, simple, descriptive terms.

Monitoring Brand Equity – The process of ensuring and measuring brand advantages allowing a brand to make adjustments to meet changing expectations.

Monogram – A type of logo using the letter(s) from a name to create a type of visual shorthand or abbreviation.

Naming Strategy – The process by which the name of a brand emerges as the phonetic/semantic representation of the brand.

Niche Market – Marketed to a smaller group of consumers who share a specific need/desire that is not a universal consumer expectation.

Opportunity – The unoccupied space where a brand has potential to increase market share.

Optimization – When the brand is fulfilling all of its promises, gaining market share and maintaining

equity to the best of its ability.

Parent Brand – The original or most widely recognized brand in a family of brands.

Personal Identity – The identity customers feel is private to them and their experience.

Playing Field – Another way of expressing the Market Space in which the brand exists. Position

Statements – Resulting statements taken from the 3Ps chart that position the brand according to consumer precepts (beliefs).

Position – A set and deliberate stance the brand takes in order to differentiate and reach the customer.

Positioned Against – When a brand is designed to directly contrast another brand in the given set.

Precept – A belief that strongly influences all decisions consumers make.

Price Elasticity – A comparative price study that shows the price ranges consumers are willing to pay for a product/service and their subsequent effects on demand.

Process – In decision making, this is a category or product description that describes the product’s attributes.

Prospects – Potential customers and markets.

Purpose – This is the reasoning behind Processes (purposes are needs and wants that are satisfied by processes). Reach – The ability of the brand to influence a certain radius of customers.

Rebranding – The process of taking an existing brand and reworking the brand into something different and better than before.

Return on Investment (ROI) – The financial return/sales you receive directly from your investment in brand development.

Ruling Precept – The overarching precept that controls the other precepts. The dominant belief that influences the purchase decision.

Segmentation – Dividing the market by a certain characteristic.

Signals Consistency – The uniformity of all the messages conveyed that speak about a given brand. This includes: logo, themelines, taglines, signage, signature systems, press releases, advertising and marketing, and internal communications.

Signature System – Letterhead, envelopes, fax sheets, memos…etc. The internal documentation of your brand.

Sonic Branding – The use of sound to convey a brand message. i.e. Intel’s chime

Strategy – The plan that enables a brand to advance in the market. Tactics – Individual processes used to execute the brand strategy.

Tagline – A simple, poignant phrase used to set off a logo/ad.

Target Audience – The group of consumers the brand wishes to influence or the consumers who already use brands within the considered set.

Target Market – A market defined by a certain characteristic, such as age or geography.

Themeline – A simple, powerful phrase used to reflect brand meaning.

Top of Mind Awareness – The first brand recalled, in a given category, unaided by the customer.

Typography – The font and visual appearance of lettering.

Web Strategy – The plan of effectively exhibiting the brand via the web through search engine optimization (SEO), messaging, design, and content management.