the role of film in brand, branding, rebranding, and international ...

Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review (OMAN Chapter) Vol. 2, No.3; Oct. 2012
When a brand is inaugurated through a conscious branding initiative, the next dilemma faced by
both stakeholders and architects of the brand is its sustenance; the goodwill, benefaction, and
esteem enjoyed by the brand must be maintained, and this is a tedious exercise, but where it is
impossible for the value of the brand to be sustained, brand decline is promoted, which if left
unattended encourages brand death. When a brand dies or declines, a rebranding option is
inevitable, and this is a process where an old, declined, or dead brand (image) is reawakened
and reinvigorated, to achieve its pre-existing ranking or a new status, as regards patronage and
goodwill. On another hand, a declined or dead brand can be replaced (with a new image or
brand), to activate and increase the loyalty enjoyed by it, reenergise it, and increase its
influence, in the face of competing brands, as well as erase previous negative labels attached to
it, and this process is referred to as rebranding.
DEFINITION OF BRANDING
Branding was the product of Egyptians of ancient epoch, and came into being around 200 BC,
though it was primarily associated with the use of hot iron objects to sear the flesh of animals,
so as to differentiate it from those owned by other farmers.
A brand is not the product or service, but the spirit behind the product or service; the spirit
behind a product or service, which propels the product or service to greater heights, is the brand,
and that is why every successful branding exercise must begin with the revitalisation,
rejuvenation, reformation, and the rededication of the spirit in every product, entity, or service,
before attempting to reform the physical composition of the product, entity, or service, and this
is what branding (and by inference rebranding) is all about.
Branding is a systematic process and art of creating brands, while a brand is synonymous with
the experiences gathered by a customers in respect of interactions with any product, entity, or
service, which influences either positively or negatively, future decisions of the customer,
concerning whether to further interact with the product, entity, or service, or not. A brand is
more of a title or sign that is associated with a product, service, or entity, and this is what carries
the spirit of the product or entity, which differentiates it from other products, services, or
entities.
Taking a more encompassing dimension, a brand is a sentimental attachment and bond created
by the unique spirits of a product, service, or entity, incorporated into name, identity,
personality, or even logo, which embodies and transmits to consumers, most of the information
that they require to know about the product, to the extent that the product or its name emits a
signal in the psyche of the consumer that arouses a desire in them to make further contact with
the product.
Various definitions have been associated with brands by different scholars, but despite the
various directions trailed by such definitions, they have a common element, which is that a
brand is whatsoever mark that is appended to a product, service, or entity, which differentiates it
from competing products in the market.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF BRANDING
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