We speak of a brand that is based on a foundation of 7-elements. These seven elements are named: Origin, history, profile, positioning, image, awareness and protection. Brands are neither markers nor are they simple emblems. Brands are the backbone of all businesses, even those which deal in the market for capital goods, in B2B and service markets. Brands unify the values of the business they represent. For instance, they stand for the commitment of the people working for this business and the bundled knowledge and expertise of the employees. These are all values which directly adhere to the business. Brands give the strength for innovation to a business and create the connection to the markets for procurement, capital, employment, sales and to the whole social environment. Yes, one can say a brand nowadays is what the symbol used to be in antiquity, namely the distinctive mark that the messenger delivered along with the message from friends or business partners. This comprehension of a brand explains that a brand is much more than a simple escort of a product. A brand is much more!

Thus totally new perspectives are being created which lead to incomparableness and uniqueness. The brand makes the employees of a business proud to be associated with it and to be responsible for it which generates the commitment to keep promises made to the market in regards to quality standards for products. Trust for the brand is fostered and thus connections to a business endure even during critical times.

Brands are an important monetary corporate value. Considerable expenses have to be raised aside from the return-on-investment year for year for its upkeep. Thus it is necessary to ensure that the performance possibilities of a brand are utilized. And it is precisely there where many businesses have buried treasures. In holistic concepts, brands are not only used for the products a business offers, but also directly for the communication of a business and vice versa. The company must become the visible escort of the brand. This eventually leads to the company and brand becoming one and thus assigning a key function to the element origin in the personality development of the brand. Experience shows that brands with such a personality structure are stronger than brands with an unknown origin or brands which can only be identified from address labels.

Consumers are very interested in who manufactures a product or who owns a brand. When it comes to environmental protection and well-being, consumers want to know very well from whom they are purchasing and who is behind a brand. If a sporting goods manufacturer who is environmentally conscious and protective of resources produces shoes and equipment according to his beliefs, he can give lasting support to the brand with his company name for the support and enforcement of a correlating position on the market.

During the process of globalization, the company name and reputation are often the precursor to a brand rollout.

The advancement of the unity of brand, product and company creates the reestablishment or strengthening of the identity of the product. And it is the quality of this identity which ranks above of what a product costs in the decision making process of the consumer.

For a long time it was possible to make money with ‘labeled’ goods. Sometimes the impression was created that this is the end of classic brands. Indeed, there were success stories where names became well known over night. Tumultuously developing markets made it possible. However, due to the consequences of the change of values and the satisfaction of the markets, especially many markets of the First World, it is imperative to turn back to classic brand work which does not require a whole lot of marketing books.

The 7-elements-theory with origin at the top of the list and the belief that corporate strategies must be market strategies at their core are prerequisite for winning over markets and for achieving growth and profits.

The vision which must accompany each market strategy is a vision of qualitative market leadership. And qualitative market leadership begins in the heads and hearts of consumers and the path to them is the brand.