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Originally, an identifying mark burnt into something, such as the hides of cattle, with a red-hot iron. Today it has two main meanings:
1. A symbol that identifies a company and its products, distinguishing them from other companies and their products and usually consisting of a brand name combined with a brand mark. In this sense, roughly synonymous with the legal term trademark.
2. A set of mental perceptions of a company and its products that people associate with the brand symbol.
In marketing, a brand is a distinctive identity that symbolizes a promise associated with a product, service or organization, indicating the source of the promise. It is a mixture of tangible and intangible attributes, symbolized by a trademark, which, if managed properly, creates value and influence.
The position occupied by a brand in the minds of customers is often a company�s most valuable asset. An established brand is an entry ticket to new markets, and serves as an entry barrier to companies that lack strong brands. The value of a well-managed brand appreciates with time, while that of a badly managed brand depreciates.
It is not always feasible to create a new brand; the chances of success are small and the cost high. Brand extension or acquisition of companies that own strong brands may be easier.

Transfer of an established brand to other products or product categories; marketing a new product under an already established company brand, either as an addition to an existing product line or as an entirely new type of product.
Brand extension is popular because it is expensive and difficult to find, register and establish new brands. A British study reveals that launch costs are, on average, 36 percent lower for products launched by brand extension than for those launched under new brands.
There are risks: the position of the original product may weaken. Some brands can tolerate much extension, others very little.
See also: brand abuse, brand awareness, brand compression and brand esteem.