In the process of doing the thesis, due to limited knowledge, it is difficult to avoid mistakes. I hope to receive sympathy and comments from teachers.
Thank you very much!
CHAPTER I: OVERVIEW OF BRANDING AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
I. Brand Overview
1. Brand concept
Maybe you are interested!
-
Completing Legal Documents, Regulations Related to Brands, and Brand Building and Protection Issues -
Building and protecting Vietnamese export brands - 2 -
Building and protecting Vietnamese export brands - 14 -
Research on building coffee tourism products into one of the main brands of Dak Lak tourism - 2 -
Building a Research Model of Factors Affecting Agribank's Brand Value
The word brand (Brand) comes from the word Brand, which in ancient Icelandic means to stamp. Originating in ancient times when farmers wanted to distinguish their sheep from other sheep, they used a red-hot iron stamp on the back of each sheep, thereby affirming the value of the goods and their ownership. Thus, the brand appeared from the need to create a difference for the manufacturer's products. Thus, a brand is a characteristic sign of a business used to identify a business or a product of a business in the marketplace 1 .
There is no official and unified concept of brand in the world. Many brand concepts are proposed from different perspectives. The World Intellectual Property Organization, Wikipedia, the American Marketing Association, etc. and many other organizations and individuals also give different definitions of brand and it is difficult to confirm which concept is right and which concept is wrong, but can only be analyzed from each perspective of each concept.
According to the definition of the Vietnamese Open Encyclopedia 2 ,
"Brands are signs used by individuals, companies, organizations or entities to differentiate and create a unique feature for the products they provide to customers, distinguishing them from other types of products.
1 According to Longman dictionary, English for business
2 www.vi.wikipedia.com
goods of other entities. A brand is a type of company's asset, usually made up of a name, or words, phrases, a logo, a symbol, an image or a combination of the above elements" . As a brand, it is a distinctive sign, distinguishing the products and services of one entity from another, however, in reality, a brand is not only made up of a name, or words, phrases, a logo, a symbol, an image, but also has elements that make up a brand that are not listed above. And, a brand is understood much more broadly than that.
A brand - as defined by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): "is a special sign (tangible and intangible) to identify a product or service produced or provided by an individual or an organization." 3
Thus, according to the definition of the World Intellectual Property Organization, a brand is not only made up of the above-mentioned signs but also includes tangible and intangible signs. One, several or all of these elements are associated with a product and/or service and make the product or service easily recognizable and distinguishable from the products or services of other individuals, organizations or legal entities. In which:
Tangible elements are one or a combination of elements that can affect human senses such as: trade names, trademarks, geographical indications, symbols (logos), product designs and packaging, advertising slogans, applied art designs, musical melodies, etc. These elements can be exclusively protected by intellectual property laws and other common laws.
3 World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO, www.wipo.int
Intangible factors are a collection of public assessments, associations, and feelings about a brand such as: about branded goods and services, about tangible signs of the brand, about the business - the owner of the brand. Intangible factors are not legally protected.
In Vietnam, there is no official definition of a brand, but only a definition of a trademark in Intellectual Property Law No. 50/2005/QH11. Therefore, only a trademark is an asset protected by intellectual property rights in Vietnam. According to Intellectual Property Law No. 50/2005/QH11, the brand elements of a product or service are protected by law as objects of intellectual property: trade names, trademarks, geographical indications and industrial designs.
Although there are many definitions of brands, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has given a brief but relatively complete definition of a brand. Although it does not specifically state and list the elements that make up a brand, in general, a brand includes visible elements (tangible elements) and invisible elements (intangible elements). From different analytical perspectives, different definitions of brands are selected and applied. This thesis applies and analyzes the definition of a brand by the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO. Thus, a brand is both a sign that distinguishes the products and services of one enterprise from those of another, and is also an asset of the enterprise. Due to its nature of both tangible and intangible elements, the value that a brand brings to a business is not all visible, such as revenue, profit, growth, etc., but also includes feelings, emotions, evaluations, trust and loyalty of customers experienced over time. That asset does not completely exist like an "iceberg". Part
The visible part is only a very small part compared to the entire large ice mass (illustrated in Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1: Brand iceberg model
TM Name
DL Instructions
Logo
Brand
Design
Brand perception
Brand Evaluation
Association
Brand loyalty
Visible element
Invisible factors
2. Distinguishing between brand and trademark (Brand and Trademark)
2.1. On the terminology aspect
In the English-Vietnamese dictionary, the word "brand" is translated as a trademark, sign, and the word "trademark" is translated as a commercial trademark. These two terms exist in parallel and are often confused, sometimes even understood as the same as a brand. The boundary between these two terms is not really clear and is only relative. In foreign documents, we often encounter the phrases "Building Brand", "Brand Strategy"; "Brand Image"; "Brand Vision"; "Brand Manager"... and are often translated and understood as "Brand Building"; "Brand Strategy"; "Brand Image"; "Brand Vision"; "Brand Management". Meanwhile, the term "Trademark" is only encountered when talking about the issue of protection registration.
or in legal documents (such as registered trademarks), without encountering the corresponding phrases “Building trademark”; “Trademark Manager”; “Trademark Vision”.
2.2. Legal aspects
A trademark is a sign used to distinguish goods and services of different organizations and individuals . 4. A trademark can be a word, an image or a combination of those elements expressed in one or more colors... A business can produce many types of products or can trade in many services, so a business can have many trademarks.
A trademark is protected if it meets the following conditions: It is a visible sign in the form of letters, words, drawings, images, including three-dimensional images or a combination of such elements, expressed in one or more colors; It is capable of distinguishing the goods and services of the trademark owner from those of other entities .
Trademarks are recognized and protected by state management agencies, while brands are the result of long-term efforts by businesses and are recognized by consumers.
2.3. On the material aspect
According to the definition in Intellectual Property Law No. 50/2005/QH11, Article 4.16, a trademark can be a word, image or a combination of those elements expressed in one or more colors, while a brand also includes slogans, jingles, etc., which are almost never mentioned in a trademark. From this, it can be seen that "Brand" is a concept of "essence", while "Trademark" is of "form".
4 Intellectual Property Law No. 50/2005/QH11 Article 4.16
5 Article 72 - Intellectual Property Law No. 50/2005/QH11
A trademark can be used to represent a certain brand, but a brand is not only represented by a trademark. On the other hand, a brand can be purely represented by a name and always associated with a name, while a trademark can include a name, a symbol...
2.4. On other aspects 6
Talking about brand is not only talking about signs like in product trademarks but more importantly talking about the image of goods in the minds of consumers. It is really abstract and that is why some people call brand as the soul and product trademark as the body.
A brand is created in a very short time, sometimes, while to build a brand (create an image of goods and services in the minds of consumers) sometimes takes the whole life of an entrepreneur.
A famous brand will last forever, but a trademark only has legal value for a certain period of time (the term of protection for a trademark is usually 10 years and can be extended by renewal).
3. Brand structure
The brand architecture includes all the main brands and sub-brands of the market segment that the business is targeting, including co-branding brands. In order for branding to bring maximum benefits to its business, the business needs to establish relationships between all brands and the combination of strategies of each brand.
6 Gia Pham and Joint Venture Law Firm, www.luatgiapham.com
There are three main brand structures:
One brand for the entire structure (Figure 1.2)
IBM, Virgin, and Harvard University are examples of brands that use a single name across all their operations. That name is used by all stakeholders: shareholders, customers, employees, partners, suppliers, and on all media.
BRAND
Figure 1.2
The parent brand serves as the foundation for the sub-brands (Figure 1.3)
Examples include Nestle, Sony, Microsoft, and Ralph Lauren. The prestige of the parent brand has supported and created high trust in consumer perception. This strategy also allows companies to trade in many product categories in many different fields with many different positionings.
BRAND
Figure 1.3