Attribute - A specific measurable quality or feature "attributed to" a brand or product, like price, quality, flavor, or speed.

Brand - The sum total of experiences customers have with products and services from a particular company.

Branding - The process of transforming a commodity into a unique customer experience.

Brandscape - The total reach of a brand - all those who touch and interact with it: customers suppliers, employees, competitors, resellers, distributors, partners, etc.

BrandSequencing™ - The process of breaking down a brand into its basic components, analyzing them, and recombining them to give a brand a better evolutionary advantage.

Brand Architecture - The specific relationship between brands and sub brands or complimentary brands. Brand architecture often needs to be mapped out from a strategic viewpoint, in order to manage and guide the inevitable tendency of successful products to evolve and proliferate.

Brand Awareness - Step 1 in branding, which companies often fail to go beyond. Tonya Harding and Enron both have strong brand awareness. Brand resonance is a better thing to focus on.

Brand Character - Often the answer to the question "what would your brand behave like if it were a person?" Character definitions usually revolve around personality traits: outgoing vs. shy; curious vs complacent; easy going vs irritable. A component of Brand DNA.

Brand Dilution - The act of devaluing a brand by ignoring the very qualities that make it special. For instance, if a brand is custom-made, exclusive and low volume, selling it at Wal-Mart is a strategy almost certain to result in brand dilution.

Brand DNA - The five basic interrelated dimensions of a brand in customers¹ minds: Category, Character, Benefits, Difference, and Credibility.

Brand Extension - The sometimes ineluctable march of product proliferation- applying the brand to ann increasing number of products or services. Sometimes done by co-branding. Brand extension must be done carefully to avoid dilution, and can't be done well without a good grasp of brand essence and brand architecture.

Brand Identity - A brand's unique system of iconography, images, messages, or "trade dress" that symbolizes the brand and, ideally, conveys its essence. Not to be confused with the brand itself. Identity is to a brand like clothes are to the man - you can change your suit, but it's a lot harder to change your personality.

Brand Pollution - The "tainting" of a brand's customer trust by unsavory or damaging associations. The Tylenol poisonings could have been much more damaging brand pollution events without the adroit actions of the company following the incidents. Martha Stewart's recent travails are an excellent example of brand pollution.

Brand Religion - The transition of a brand from product to experience to a principle of cultural organization. Harley Davidson has brand religion bigtime. They got it by fostering a deep understanding of their brand's core values.

Brand Resonance - The quality of a brand that makes it become more than relevant to customers - it speaks to peoples' deeply held beliefs and search for meaningful experiences.

Co-branding - The practice of combining brands to gain advantages of increased market share or recognition.

Construct - A mental concept behind thoughts and feelings expressed by interviewees, most vividly through the use of metaphors. The most important and useful constructs are regarded as being universal in nature, shared by most or all interviewees.

Construct Map - A diagram of the most prevalent constructs and their interrelationships uncovered in research.

Differentiation - The secret sauce, attribute, characteristic, perception, or association that compellingly and dramatically sets a brand or product apart from all others in its category, often creating an entirely new category. A component of Brand DNA.

Marcom - Short for marketing communications. Marcom includes advertising, public relations, web development, signage, point-of-purchase, packaging, print collateral, direct mail, identity - anything that serves as a vehicle for brand and marketing messages.

Overt Benefit - An explicitly, deliberately stated clear, distinct benefit to users. Often completely overlooked in marcom.

Positioning - The specific "position", in the minds of customers, of a brand in relation to competing brands. Also refers to the process of developing strong brand positioning. Current Positioning is positioning uncovered and articulated by research, which serves as the basis for brand strategy. Sometimes current positioning is unique, compelling, and sustainable, so strategy is aimed at maintaining or strengthening it. Sometimes a current positioning needs to evolve into a different positioning, called a "target positioning."

Propagation - Communicating brand messages and positioning to internal brand management and marcom team members, usually over a collaborative network.

Sub-Branding - The practice of combining an existing brand with a new brand, as a means of modifying the existing brand.

Target Positioning - The desired revised or evolved positioning, built upon the basis of current positioning. Target positioning development often involves strengthening previously unrecognized attributes or constructs that hold significant differentiating advantage.

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