What Some May Have You Believe.

Some who profit from providing business related services such as web page design, PR, trademark registration, logo creation, etc. may have you believe that their service will "brand" your product. While providing valuable product recognition, promotion and trademark protection, those services simply will not "brand your product". Why? The answer is found in how branding a product initially began and what is really required to brand your product.

In the United States in the late 1800's the railway began reaching thousands of communities both large and small. Manufacturers used the railway as a relatively inexpensive way to get their products to their customers - the general store retailers. The product was shipped in bulk in wooden barrels because general stores weren't designed to be self-serve. Rather, the customer would tell the store clerk what she/he wanted and the clerk would retrieve the product from the applicable wooden barrel. Manufacturers needed a quick and easy way for railroad employees handling their barrels to identify which barrels were theirs to ensure their product reached the intended destination. The solution: use a hot branding iron similar to those used to brand livestock and brand the manufacturers name (or initials) right into the side of the wooden barrel.

For example, Proctor and Gamble might fill a wooden shipping barrel with unwrapped bars of Ivory Soap and using their branding iron stamp "Ivory Soap - P&G" on the side of the barrel. Over time, the general store owners became very confident with the QUALITY of Ivory Soap that came to them in barrels branded with "Ivory Soap - P&G" and realized that the brand really offered "a promise of consistent quality" ... meaning that Proctor and Gamble was "promising" them that the QUALITY in the current shipment will be the same high quality as the previous shipments. Store owners then began ordering the soap with the "Ivory Soap - P&G" brand.

Therefore, regardless what others may try to have you believe, branding a product can be summed up in just two words ... "a promise". And if expected product quality (or customer experience) isn't consistently offered and maintained, then a fancy web page, PR, a trademark or logo isn't going to cut it for you in the long term.