Most definitions of ‘brand’ focus on what a company produces, like logos, names, and design systems, but fail to explain what brand is, how it drives commercial outcomes, and how it is measured.

In Part 1 of this series, we define brand comprehensively while keeping it accessible to marketers and non-marketers alike. From that foundation, we break down how brand shows up in real buying situations, how it influences decision-making through different memory systems, and how it can be measured through awareness, salience, distinctiveness, and risk.

In Part 1, we discuss:

• What is happening in the mind during a purchase decision
• The role of working memory in evaluation vs long-term memory in reducing risk
• Why most brand interactions never make it past sensory filtering
• The relationship between brand building (long-term memory) and activation (working memory)
• Sensory, working, and long-term memory, and how each shapes brand outcomes
• The commercial implications of brand: awareness, perception, and risk reduction
• Brand Distinctiveness vs Brand Differentiation
• How category entry points trigger brand recall in real-world situations
• The practical discussion of how brand heritage affects commercial outcomes
• Why diagnostics are the foundation of any credible brand strategy
• The difference between internal (team/founder) and market diagnostics, and why both matter
• Why most definitions of brand are incomplete, and what is commonly missed
• A unifying definition of brand grounded in perception, memory, and behaviour
• The ontology of brand: its tangible existence

Hosted by Brand Strategist Jack Ferguson.

Where to find Jack:

- LinkedIn

- Website

Where to find The Push:

- The Push on LinkedIn

- The Push on YouTube

- The Push on TikTok

- The Push on Instagram

- The Push Website