Brand management is defined as systematic development of a brand. The main aim is to distinguish your own products or service offers from the products and service offers of the competition in a way that is meaningful for your target groups and/or to differentiate your own business from competitors in a relevant way.

This is based on the recognition that a well managed brand ties different target groups to that brand through characteristic properties, attributes or qualities.  In this way, the brand seeks to give people greater orientation among offers, radiate confidence, awaken desire and promote loyalty.

Thanks to professional development and management of a brand, the owner gains a competitive advantage which pays off in a larger market share and sometimes in a price premium.  A brand is also often presented in the form of a monetary value which appears as an asset in the company’s balance sheet.  Hence, the goal is to achieve an increase in the value of the brand and accordingly in the value of the business through professional brand management.

The theme of brands and brand management is not a phenomenon of the industrial age but has existed for much longer.  As long ago as in the early civilisations of Mesopotamia and Egypt, there was a practice of selling some mass products such as alcoholic drinks, cosmetics, clothes or oil as a brand of a particular producer.  Archaeologists have recently identified an Egyptian table based on a barrel as an advertisement for fine olive oil.  There was a product name (“Hemaka”), a product promise (“the finest oil from Tjehenu”) an indication that even the Gods praise it and a “reason why”: skilled production using first-class equipment, in this case an oil press in a golden palace.

The framework conditions for successful brand management have changed dramatically in recent years.  People today are confronted with thousands of brand messages every day in a wide range of places.  Advertising in its myriad forms is only one aspect.  The product itself, colours, packaging, presentation in the shop, prices, events, employees and managers, company premises, websites, blogs and our everyday experiences also have a lasting influence on our attitudes and our behaviour vis-à-vis brands.

For a brand to be successfully managed, certain conditions must be met. The brand must be autonomous, with relevant differentiating functional or emotional benefits which make it desirable.  It must have an original, specific signature which makes it distinguishable and recognisable, and brings it to life.

But a brand also needs an organisation that manages, develops and protects it, and helps it to deploy and evolve further on an ongoing basis.  In this regard, target groups within the business today also play a decisive role.

The link between a brand and the people who are responsible for it within the business should not only be strong and stable but must also be given constant care.  Employees (and other stakeholders) should always know how the identity of a brand is defined and manifests itself, what it means for its external target groups (i.e. customers and potential customers), what customers expect from it, and what its objectives and prospects are.