QUESTION

At its worst, the organizational brand is a name and a logo that is inconsistently applied to an unrelated set of products and services. It is overused as well as means nothing, and it prompts people of the worst of an over-commercial society. It feels cold also seems exploitative. It is perceived to be a vestige of a past era.

At its best, brand management aligns organisations with value-adding activities. It keeps organization focused on meeting real human needs in compelling new ways. And at its best, the organisational brand defines how the organization best meets its customers' needs in unique and compelling ways. It serves as the organisation's unifying principle and rallying cry; it infuses the organization with a set of values and personality; and it holds an organisation's employees to a consistent set of behaviours. The organization brand stands for something. It establishes trust and a certain level of assurance; it makes it possible for people to establish relationships with the organization; and it creates expectation that must be fulfilled. The brand can bring an organization to life in a real way. In the end, brand management is all about meeting people's physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and other needs in unique ways. It is the application of free enterprise to the timely and timeless needs of mankind.

I wish you a brand at its best. May you unleash your brand's power and transform your organization through branding.

Answer the following:

(a) What do you understand by the term branding?

(b) The organisational brand defines how the organization best meets its customers' needs in unique and compelling ways. Discuss the statement with reference to relevant brand indentities.

(c) it infuses the organization with a set of values and personality; and it holds an organisation's employees to a consistent set of behaviours. Explain this statement showing how the various entities are interrelated in a brand architecture.