Branding Glossary: 58 Essential Terms

Today, businesses are nothing without a solid brand. A standout brand helps a business of any size achieve success. 

If you need help communicating your brand’s message or want to start from scratch, this glossary will act as a guide for your branding journey. 

This comprehensive glossary will provide definitions of the key terms that go into any sort of branding project.

Interested in hiring a branding agency? Check out our list of top agencies.

58 Branding Terms to Know

Whether you’re just starting on your company’s branding journey or need a quick refresher, this glossary will help you find the right words to communicate your company’s brand story. 

A

• Ambassador: A brand ambassador is paid to promote a company’s product or services. Think Pete Davidson and Smart Water.

B

• Business Cards: A small card that includes contact information that can be given to interested customers.
• Brand: How a consumer perceive an organization.
• Brand Archetype: A brand representation that fits the mold of a persona that’s based on human desires and values. 
  

  

   

• Brand Architecture: A model that organizes products, services, and smaller brands that are related to an overall brand. 
• Brand Assets: All elements used by a company to create a unique image and identity. 
• Brand Attributes: The characteristics of a brand.
• Brand Audit: A checkup that evaluates a brand’s strengths and weaknesses that helps create guidelines to elevate a brand’s position. 
• Brand Awareness: Consumers' familiarity with a particular brand’s image or qualities. 
• Brand Equity: The value that derives from the consumer perception of a brand name – not the actual product or service.
• Brand Experience: The overall perception that customers have when interacting with a company. 
• Brand Extension: Using an established brand name or trademark on a newer product to increase sales and value. 
• Brand Guidelines: The rules an organization uses to maintain brand consistency.
• Brand Identity: The visible elements of a brand that distinguish the brand in a consumer’s mind. 
• Brand Image: The impression of an existing brand in a loyal or potential customer’s mind. 
• Brand Loyalty: The tendency of consumers to buy from the same brand rather than others.
• Brand Management: The activity of supervising the promotion of, maintaining, and improving a brand. 
• Brand Messaging: How the value of the brand is communicated. 
• Brand Name: A name given by the maker to a product or service, especially a trademark. For example, Kleenex is a brand name for tissues. 
• Brand Parity: How similar brands are, and how difficult it is to differentiate between them.
• Brand Personality: A set of human characteristics or “personality traits” that is attributed to a specific brand. 
• Brand Positioning: Where the brand stands in a market. 
• Brand Strategy: The approach behind how a brand builds a relationship with loyal or potential customers. 

C

• Co-branding: The marketing relationship existing between different brands.
• Collateral: Marketing materials for a company like email templates, brochures, business cards, and more. 
• Color System: A brand’s color guide.
• Culture: A company’s working standards, thinking models, beliefs, and more are an integral part of communicating a brand. 

D

• Differentiation: How a specific brand is set apart from others. Using brand promises and other benefits can help businesses set themselves apart from competitors. 

E

• Environmental Branding: Also known as interior branding, the actual work that involves the physical space of a brand. For example, how all stores look the same inside for a particular brand. 

F

• Fonts: A specific typeface. Brands have specific fonts and styles as part of their brand identity. 

G

• Gap: A brand gap can occur between an organization’s business initiatives and creative strategies. 

H

• Harmonization: Ensuring that all products or services in a brand range have a consistent name and visual identity. 

I

• Initialism: An abbreviated version of a brand’s name, which differs from an acronym due to pronunciation. For example, CNN & NBC, but NASA is an acronym. 

L

• Lettering: The umbrella term that covers the art of drawing letters. 
• Logotype: A visual representation or symbol of a company name.

M 

• Market Share: A company’s share of total sales of a given product in a given market. 
• Mission Statement: Crafted by stakeholders, a mission statement communicates a brand’s objectives and purpose. 

N

• Naming: The process of choosing a name for a brand. 

O

• On-Brand: The perception that a brand asset is consistent with audience expectations. 

P

• Personas: A fictional character that communicates characteristics of a specific group.
• Positioning Statement: Outlines a company’s mission and value to consumers. 

Q

• Qualitative Research: Research conducted through interviews, focus groups, and other forms of observation to provide context about an audience’s feelings and beliefs toward a brand. 
• Quantitative Research: Research that uses questions, polls, and surveys to provide factual answers to branding questions. 

R

• Rebranding: The process of changing a company’s brand.
• Recall: Denotes how many customers can remember your brand. This indicates a good level of brand awareness in the market. 
• Repositioning: Enacting changes to a product’s positioning to enhance the value. 

S

• Segmentation: The process of dividing a target market into groups or segments. 
• Style Guide: A rulebook that contains specifications for a brand.
• Sub-brand: A product or service that has its own identity but is affiliated with a larger brand. For example, Coke Zero is a sub-brand of Coca-Cola. 
• SWOT: An acronym (stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) for a technique to analyze a brand. 
  

  

T

• Tagline: A phrase used to relay a brand’s mission and value. 
• Target Audience: A specific group of consumers that a brand wants to reach. 
• Touchpoints: Any time where there is an interaction between consumers and a brand - this could be an email campaign, LinkedIn message, social media, or another form of advertising. 
• Typography: A visual component of written copy. 

U

• USP (Unique Selling Proposition): The essence of what makes a product or service better than competitors. 

V

• Value Proposition: A simple statement communicating how a product or service benefits a consumer. 
• Visual Identity: The visible representation of a brand identity. 

W

• Wordmark: A type of logo that only includes a company name. Think of Sony or FedEx. 

Keep Informed About Branding Trends for Your Business

A successful brand is built on having a clear message and identity that resonates with your target audience. Understanding the fundamentals of branding is essential for any business or organization looking to effectively promote their goods or services. By developing a well-defined brand strategy, companies can ensure they are taking the right steps in creating an impactful and memorable presence.

Studying the key branding terminology in this branding glossary is the first step.