Intangible assets that bring a premium to the owner and generate appreciation. Its carrier is a name, term, symbol, logo or designer's design and their combination to distinguish it from other competitors' products or services. The source of value-added comes from the impression formed by its carrier in the hearts of consumers. In real life, a brand that can be passed on from mouth to mouth can be called a brand. Brand is the total interest concentration of all intangible assets of an enterprise or brand subject (including cities and individuals), which can be identified by a specific "symbol". Brand is a neutral word, not always positive, but also negative. It is the product of the interaction between subject and object, subject and society, enterprise and consumer. In short, the brand is the brand of the soul. Whether a brand is beautiful or ugly, deep or shallow, determines the strength of the brand, the number of brand assets and the level of brand value. Brand is a kind of evaluation and cognition formed by consumers on an enterprise and its products' excellent product quality, perfect after-sales service, good product image, beautiful cultural value and excellent management achievements, and it is a kind of trust between enterprises and managers who have invested huge manpower, material resources and financial resources. Quality is the essence and foundation of the brand, and it is also the life of the brand; Service is an important support of brand, an inseparable part of goods and the focus of market competition; Image is a brand's personality in the market and consumers' minds, which reflects consumers' evaluation and cognition of the brand. Cultural value is the connotation of brand, the unity of social material form and spiritual form, and the combination of modern social consumption psychology and cultural value orientation; Excellent management is the reliance to ensure the success of the brand, and it is also the basis for the healthy growth of the brand. The real significance of brand building lies not only in the fact that enterprises can obtain greater economic benefits through brands, but also in its far-reaching social benefits, such as solving employment problems, increasing national taxes, stimulating consumption and so on. A brand has the following basic characteristics:

Brand is a proprietary brand.

A brand is used to identify a product or service of a producer or seller. The brand owner enjoys the exclusive right of the brand through legal procedures and has the right to ask other enterprises or individuals not to counterfeit or forge it, that is, the brand is exclusive.

2. Brand is the intangible resource of an enterprise.

Because brands can continuously gain benefits by virtue of their own brand advantages, they can use brands to open up markets, so the value of brands is immeasurable. This kind of value can not be expressed in kind like material assets, but it can make the intangible assets of enterprises increase rapidly and can be traded as commodities in the market. From 65438 to 0994, Coca-Cola in the United States ranked first in the world, with a brand value of $35.95 billion, equivalent to four times its sales. By 1995, the brand value of Coca-Cola had reached $39.05 billion, and by 1996, it had risen to $43.427 billion. Although China's brand creation started late, domestic well-known brands have developed rapidly, such as Hongtashan in hongta group, Wahaha in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Haier in Qingdao, Shandong and Changhong Group in Mianyang, Sichuan. These well-known brands are also valuable. Let's take the evaluation of 1998 as an example: the brand value of Hongtashan is 38.6 billion yuan, and that of Haier is 245.

3. Brand transformation has certain risks and uncertainties.

After the brand is founded, in the process of its growth, due to the constant changes in the market and the continuous improvement of demand, the brand capital of an enterprise may grow or shrink, and even a brand may withdraw from the market in the competition. It can be seen that there are certain risks in brand growth and it is difficult to evaluate. For brand risk, sometimes it is due to the unexpected product quality, sometimes it is due to poor service, and sometimes it is due to the blind expansion and poor management of brand capital, which may bring difficulties to the maintenance of corporate brands.

4. The representative of the brand.

Brand is an intangible asset of an enterprise, which has no independent entity and occupies no space. However, its original purpose is to make people remember a product or enterprise in an easy-to-remember form. Therefore, a brand must have a material carrier, which needs to be formalized and visualized through a series of material carriers. The direct carriers of brands are mainly words, patterns and symbols, while the indirect carriers mainly include product quality, product service, popularity, reputation and market share. Without material carrier, the brand can't be displayed, let alone achieve the overall communication effect of the brand. Excellent brands are outstanding in the carrier, such as the words "Coca-Cola", which reminds people of the drinking effect of their drinks, and their red patterns and corresponding packaging can play a unique role.

5. The brand's expansibility.

Brand has the function of identification, representing a product and an enterprise. Enterprises can use this advantage to show the brand's ability to open up the market, and also help enterprises to expand brand capital. Brands can be divided into different categories according to different standards:

1, divided by brand awareness radiation area.

According to brand popularity and radiation area, brands can be divided into regional brands, domestic brands, international brands and global brands. Regional brand refers to the brand produced and sold in a small area. These products are generally produced and sold in a certain range, and the radiation range of products is not large, which is mainly influenced by product characteristics, regional characteristics and certain cultural characteristics. This is somewhat similar to local operas, such as Shaanxi Opera, Shanxi Opera, Hebei Bangzi and Henan Opera. Domestic brands refer to products that are well-known in China, with products all over the country and sold to the whole country, such as Haier, Gree, Lenovo, Hongtashan, Mengniu and Wahaha. International brands refer to brands with high popularity and reputation in the international market, such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Marlboro, Mercedes-Benz, Ericsson, Microsoft and Pierre? Cardin and others.

2, according to the different links of brand product production and operation.

According to the production and operation of products, brands can be divided into manufacturer brands and dealer brands. Manufacturer's brand refers to the brand designed by the manufacturer for its own products. Dealer brand refers to the brand established by dealers according to their own needs, understanding of the market and the needs of enterprise development. There are many in manufacturer brand, such as Sony, Mercedes-Benz and Changhong. Dealer brands such as "Sears".

3, according to the brand source.

According to the source of brands, brands can be divided into independent brands, foreign brands and grafted brands. Independent brands are founded by enterprises according to their own needs, such as Honda, Dongfeng, Permanent, Motorola and Quanjude. Foreign brands refer to brands acquired by enterprises through franchising, merger, acquisition or other forms, such as the Beijing "Jinghua" brand acquired by Unilever and the famous French brand trademark S? t？ Dupont Company. Grafted brand mainly refers to the new products of two brands formed by joint venture and cooperation, such as Qindao-Liebherr.

4, according to the brand life cycle length.

According to the length of brand life cycle, brands can be divided into short-term brands and long-term brands. Short-term brand refers to a brand with a short brand life cycle, which is short-lived or lasts for a period of time in the market competition for some reason. Long-term brand means that the brand life cycle can still last for a long time with the replacement of the product life cycle, and remain young forever, such as Tongrentang, Quanjude and the rise of Inline. There are also some world-famous brands that have been developing internationally for a long time, such as Coca-Cola and Mercedes-Benz.

5. According to brand behavior.

According to the different industries of branded products, brands can be divided into household appliances brands, food and beverage brands, daily chemical brands, automobile machinery brands, commercial brands, service brands, network information brands and so on.

6. According to the originality and extensibility of the brand.

According to the originality and extensibility of brands, brands can be divided into main brands, sub-brands and sub-sub-brands, such as "Haier" brand, and now there are Haier refrigerators, Haier color TVs, Haier air conditioners and so on. Haier washing machine is divided into Haier prodigy and Haier energy-saving king. In addition, brands can be divided into parent brand, sub-brands and Sun brands, such as P&G's Head & Shoulders, Rejoice and Pan Ting.

7. According to the ontological characteristics of the brand.

According to the ontological characteristics of brands, brands can be divided into individual brands, enterprise brands, city brands, national brands and international brands. For example, Jackie Chan, Liu Xiaoqing, Zhang Guoli and Zhang Yimou are personal brands, Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, Ningbo International Fashion Festival and CBD Festival are city brands, Golden Pagoda, Wan Li Great Wall, Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty are national brands, and the United Nations, Olympic Games and International Red Cross are world-class brands.