ABSTRACT
The goal of this chapter is to demonstrate why branding serves as an integral part of advertising theory and to examine some of the key concepts that explain branding. While initially the province of the marketer that owns the brand, the brand operates in a social, political, and economic environment, and brand messages are communicated via traditional and nontraditional media. Brand consideration and use are negotiated processes where a reciprocal relationship is formed between the consumer, the social environment, and the organization. We first provide a discussion on the importance of theory and how it relates to advertising and branding, the inseparable link between branding and advertising, and key concepts used to explain branding–ownership/market power, promise/trust, image/meaning, contact, negotiation/collaboration, and brand valuation. We also discuss challenges to the concept of brand and identify when the concept of brand loses its central meaning and tightness of explanation.
