The following is an excerpt draft from my upcoming book called, The Lean Brand. Your feedback is more than welcome. More at: http://leanbrandbook.com
BRAND LANGUAGE ECOSYSTEM
So, let’s be clear about not only the definition of brand but the ensuing language ecosystem in which it lives:
A brand is a relationship between an organization and an audience.
Branding is the aggregate effect of both the intentional and unintentional activities taken by the organization or the audience in establishing and maintaining their relationship.
Intentional Branding is the deliberate and conscious activities taken by an organization to project its value for the purpose of building the relationship with its audience.
Unintentional branding is the inadvertent influence on the relationship occurring regardless of intention as a result of action or lack of action.
Brand Development is the maturation lifecycle of the relationship between an organization and it’s audience. There are three phases of development:brand-formation, brand-growth, and brand-maintenance.
Brand-formation is the creation of the relationship in the early-stages of the brand’s life.
Brand-growth is the scaling of the relationship post product-market-brand fit.
Brand-management is the sustaining the already formed and scaled relationship over time.
A Lean Brand is a brand wherein an organization and and audience have achieved a symbiotic relationship around common value without any extraneous activities.