Foundations & Strategy
Q: What’s the difference between a brand and branding?
A: Brand is the gut feeling people have about you; branding is the deliberate work that shapes that feeling across touchpoints.
Q: What is brand strategy?
A: A long-term plan that defines who you are (purpose, positioning, personality), for whom, and how you’ll win.
Q: What is brand positioning?
A: The single most compelling space you aim to own in the customer’s mind, relative to competitors.
Q: Purpose vs. Mission vs. Vision?
A: Purpose = why you exist; Mission = what you do and for whom; Vision = where you’re going.
Q: What is a value proposition?
A: A concise statement of customer benefit + proof that explains why you’re the best choice.
Q: Differentiation vs. Distinctiveness?
A: Differentiation = substantive differences; Distinctiveness = instantly recognizable brand cues (colors, shapes, assets).
Q: Brand pillars?
A: 3–5 foundational themes that support positioning (e.g., Innovation, Craft, Service).
Q: Reasons-to-Believe (RTBs)?
A: Specific proofs (awards, patents, testimonials) that back up your claims.
Q: Segmentation/Targeting/Persona/JTBD?
A: Breaking the market into groups, choosing who to serve, describing them, and mapping their Jobs-to-Be-Done.
Q: Brand equity?
A: The commercial value from brand awareness, associations, and loyalty.
Q: Brand equity models (Aaker, Keller/CBBE, BAV)?
A: Frameworks to diagnose equity (awareness → meaning → response → resonance).
Architecture & Portfolio
Q: What is brand architecture?
A: How brands, sub-brands, and products relate (naming, endorsement, hierarchy).
Q: Branded House vs. House of Brands vs. Hybrid?
A: Branded House (Google): one masterbrand spans offers; House of Brands (P&G): many stand-alone brands; Hybrid: a mix.
Q: Masterbrand, Sub-brand, Endorsed brand?
A: Masterbrand leads; Sub-brand adds specificity; Endorsed brand stands alone but carries “by [Endorser]”.
Q: Line extension vs. Category extension?
A: New variant in same category vs. moving into a new category.
Q: Co-branding & Ingredient branding?
A: Two brands share equity; ingredient brand (e.g., “Intel Inside”) adds credible component value.
Identity: Visual
Q: Visual identity?
A: The system of tangible cues (logo, color, type, layout, imagery, motion).
Q: Logo types?
A: Wordmark, Lettermark/Monogram, Symbol/Logomark, Combination mark, Emblem.
Q: Clear space & minimum size?
A: Rules that keep logos legible and unobstructed.
Q: Color system (Primary/Secondary/Neutral)?
A: Approved palettes with codes (HEX/RGB/CMYK/Pantone) and contrast ratios for accessibility.
Q: Typography system?
A: Heading/body/mono styles, sizes, line-height, and pairing rules.
Q: Iconography & Illustration style?
A: Consistent vector styles for UI and storytelling.
Q: Photography style?
A: Direction on subjects, lighting, composition, post-processing.
Q: Motion & animation guidelines?
A: Timing, easing, transitions that feel “on-brand.”
Q: Sonic/Audio branding?
A: Sonic logo, theme, and soundscape rules.
Q: Favicon & App icon?
A: Small-format brand marks for browsers and apps.
Q: Open Graph / social preview?
A: Metadata images/titles for sharing cards.
Identity: Verbal
Q: Verbal identity?
A: The voice, tone, and linguistic rules that make the brand sound consistent.
Q: Tone of voice vs. Voice?
A: Voice is stable personality; Tone adapts by context (e.g., urgent, celebratory).
Q: Tagline vs. Slogan?
A: Tagline is long-term; Slogan is campaign-specific.
Q: Messaging hierarchy?
A: The order of talking points from core promise to details.
Q: Boilerplate?
A: Standard company paragraph for PR and partner use.
Q: Manifesto?
A: A passionate articulation of beliefs and intent.
Q: Naming strategies (Descriptive, Suggestive, Arbitrary, Fanciful, Coined)?
A: Spectrum from literal (“General Motors”) to invented (“Kodak”).
Q: Naming checks?
A: Linguistic screening, domain search, and legal trademark clearance.
Research, Tracking & Metrics
Q: Brand audit?
A: A diagnostic of current assets, performance, and gaps.
Q: Awareness (Aided/Unaided)?
A: Recognition with or without prompts.
Q: Consideration, Preference, Purchase intent?
A: Funnel metrics moving toward selection.
Q: Brand associations & sentiment?
A: Attributes linked to your brand and the emotion they carry.
Q: NPS, CSAT, CES?
A: Loyalty, satisfaction, and effort scores.
Q: Share of Voice (SOV) vs. Share of Market (SOM)?
A: Your ad presence vs. your sales share.
Q: Brand lift?
A: Incremental increases in awareness/intent from a campaign.
Q: MMM vs. MTA?
A: Media Mix Modeling (top-down, aggregate) vs. Multi-Touch Attribution (user-level, bottom-up).
Q: ROMI vs. ROAS vs. MER?
A: ROMI includes all marketing costs; ROAS relates ad spend to revenue; MER is total revenue ÷ total media.
Q: Brand valuation (Interbrand, BrandZ)?
A: Financial estimates of brand’s contribution to business value.
Digital Brand Presence
Q: On-page, Off-page, Technical SEO?
A: Content & structure, backlinks/authority, site health/performance.
Q: E-E-A-T?
A: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness signals.
Q: Structured data / Schema?
A: Markup that helps search engines understand content.
Q: Knowledge Panel & Entity SEO?
A: How Google represents verified brand entities.
Q: Local SEO & NAP?
A: Optimizing for local intent; Name/Address/Phone consistency.
Q: Reputation management?
A: Soliciting, responding to, and leveraging reviews.
Q: Social listening & Sentiment analysis?
A: Monitoring conversations and emotions around your brand.
Q: Content pillars & calendar?
A: Thematic clusters and publishing cadence that ladder to strategy.
Q: UGC & Community?
A: Customer-created content and engagement spaces around your brand.
Q: Brand safety & suitability?
A: Keeping ads away from harmful or off-brand contexts.
Q: Robots.txt, Sitemap, Canonical, Hreflang?
A: Crawl directives, URL lists, duplicate-content signals, and language targeting.
Marketing, Creative & Media
Q: Brand marketing vs. Performance marketing?
A: Long-term mental availability vs. short-term demand capture.
Q: Full-funnel marketing?
A: Coordinated efforts across awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty.
Q: GRP/TRP, Reach, Frequency, CPM/CPC/CPA?
A: Planning and buying metrics for media reach, cost, and efficiency.
Q: Creative testing (A/B, MVT)?
A: Experiments to optimize messages and assets.
Q: Distinctive brand assets/codes?
A: Ownable cues (mascot, color, jingle) that trigger recognition.
Q: Storytelling framework?
A: Narrative arcs (hero, tension, resolution) aligned to brand role.
Q: Brand toolkit?
A: Pre-approved templates, components, and examples for fast, on-brand creation.
Experience & CX
Q: Brand experience (BX) vs. Customer experience (CX)?
A: BX is the branded layer; CX is the total end-to-end journey.
Q: Touchpoints & Journey map?
A: Moments of interaction and a visualization of them over time.
Q: Moments of truth?
A: High-impact touchpoints that shape perception disproportionately.
Q: Service blueprint?
A: Diagram of frontstage/backstage people, processes, and systems.
Q: Omnichannel?
A: Seamless, connected experiences across channels and devices.
Q: Packaging & Unboxing?
A: Physical brand experience that drives memorability and shareability.
Q: Wayfinding & Environmental branding?
A: Signage and spatial cues that guide and express brand.
Q: Loyalty, CRM & Marketing automation?
A: Programs and platforms for retention and personalized journeys.
Q: Personalization vs. Privacy?
A: Tailoring experiences while honoring consent and data protection.
Partnerships & Growth
Q: Sponsorship vs. Partnership?
A: Sponsorship funds/associates with properties; partnerships co-create mutual value.
Q: Influencer tiers (Nano/Micro/Macro/Mega)?
A: Audience-size bands with differing trust and reach trade-offs.
Q: Affiliate marketing?
A: Performance-based partnerships that pay for referred conversions.
Q: Licensing & Franchising?
A: Renting brand IP vs. replicating a business model under your brand.
Organization, Governance & Legal
Q: Brand governance?
A: Policies, roles, and processes that keep usage consistent.
Q: Brand guidelines vs. Playbook?
A: Guidelines set rules; playbooks add examples and “how-to.”
Q: DAM & Templating?
A: Digital Asset Management and on-brand creation at scale.
Q: Internal branding & EVP?
A: Bringing the brand to employees; Employee Value Proposition articulates why people join/stay.
Q: Change management & Enablement?
A: Preparing and training teams to adopt new brand ways of working.
Q: Trademark symbols (™/®/℠)?
A: ™ claim, ® registered, ℠ service mark; usage governed by IP law.
Q: Trade dress?
A: Protectable non-functional design elements (packaging, store layout).
Rebranding & Migration
Q: Refresh vs. Rebrand vs. Rename?
A: Refresh = evolve; Rebrand = significant reposition/identity shift; Rename = new brand name.
Q: Migration plan?
A: Phased rollout, asset replacement, redirects, inventory wind-down, stakeholder comms.
Q: Dual-branding & End-of-life?
A: Temporary co-labeling to transfer equity; structured sunsetting of old assets.
Responsibility, Risk & Ethics
Q: Brand purpose vs. CSR vs. ESG?
A: Purpose is core “why”; CSR are social initiatives; ESG are environmental/social/governance metrics.
Q: Greenwashing/Woke-washing?
A: Exaggerating ethics/purpose claims without substantiation.
Q: Crisis communications?
A: Protocols, owners, and pre-approved holding statements for incidents.
Q: Brand suitability & Sensitive categories?
A: Ensuring placements align with your risk and values thresholds.
Emerging & Multisensory
Q: Sensory branding?
A: Coordinated cues across sight, sound, touch, scent, and taste.
Q: Sonic logo & UX sounds?
A: Short mnemonic and interface audio that reinforce identity.
Q: Haptics?
A: Tactile feedback as a branded cue (devices, packaging).
Q: AR/VR/XR branding?
A: Identity systems designed for immersive environments.
Q: AI brand guardrails?
A: Rules for AI-generated content (tone, facts, IP, bias, disclosures).
Q: Prompt style guide?
A: Presets and examples that make AI outputs consistently on-brand.
Quick Glossary (A–Z)
A/B Testing • ABM • Accessibility Contrast • Ad Recall • Affinity • Archetypes • Architecture • Awareness • BAV • Boilerplate • Brand Book • Brand Codes • Brand Lift • Brand Promise • Brand Recall • Brand Safety • Brand Tracker • Branded House • Brief (Creative) • Buyer Journey • Category Extension • Codes of Conduct • Color System • Combination Mark • Consideration • Content Pillars • Conversion Rate • Co-branding • DAM • Demand Gen • Differentiation • Distinctiveness • Dual-Branding • Editorial Style • Endorsed Brand • Engagement Rate • Equity • ESG • EVP • Favicon • Frequ ency • GRP/TRP • Guidelines • H1/H2 Hierarchy • Hreflang • Iconography • Identity • Ingredient Brand • Interbrand • KBF (Key Buying Factors) • Keller CBBE • Knowledge Panel • Licensing • Line Extension • Manifesto • Masterbrand • MER • Message Map • MMM • Motion System • MTA • Naming Ladder • NAP • Netnography • NPS • OG Tags • Omnichannel • Persona • Pillars • Positioning • Preference • Private Label • Proof Points • Purpose • Reach • Refresh • Relevancy • Rename • Repositioning • Responsive Logo • ROMI • ROAS • Schema • Share of Voice • Sitemap • Slogan • Sonic Logo • Sponsorship • Storytelling • Sub-brand • Tagline • Tone of Voice • Trade Dress • Trademark • UGC • Visual Hierarchy • Voice • Wayfinding.
