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| BRANDING DICTIONARY OF TERMS |
| SACRIFICE: |
In brand strategy, the practice of eliminating products, services, or features that are out of alignment with the brand’s positioning.
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| SALES CYCLE: |
For buyers, the steps in making a purchase, often defined as awareness, consideration, decision, and use; for sellers, the steps in making a sale.
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| SALES FUNNEL: |
A process for tracking customers through a logical sequence of steps from prospect to purchaser.
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| SEARCH ADVERTISING: |
Ads placed on websites based on the keywords in search engine queries.
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| SEARCH ENGINE: |
A software program that lets users search for information on the Internet through a browser. (*As of 2025, 90% of all Internet searches are done using Google.com) Other major search engines are Bing.com (Microsoft) and Yahoo.com.
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| SEGMENT: |
| A group of people who are likely to respond to a given marketing effort in a similar way. |
| SEGMENTATION: |
| A process of dividing a market into subcategories of people who share similar values and goals. |
| SEMANTICS: |
The study of the meaning of words, phrases, signs and symbols.
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| SEMIOTICS: |
The study of signs and symbols as components of language.
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| SEO: |
Search Engine Optimization, or the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in organic search results.
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| SERVICE: |
In economics, the intangible equivalent of a good, in which the buyer obtains use but not ownership.
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| SERVICE DESIGN: |
The process of determining the business model, brand strategy, and customer experience for a service.
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| SHELF IMPACT: |
| The ability of a product or package to command attention by virtue of its communication design.
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| SIGN: |
A basic indicator of meaning.
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| SIGNAGE: |
One or more signs used to identify, direct, locate, or persuade people in the physical environment.
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| SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO: |
In communication, the relationship of useful information to irrelevant data.
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| SIGNATURE: |
In brand identity design, the defined visual relationship between a logotype and a symbol.
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| SILO: |
| A department separated from other departments according to product, service, function, or market; a disparaging term for a non-collaborative department. |
| SKEUOMORPH: |
In brand design, a nonfunctional appearance that represents a functional attribute of the item it imitates.
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| SKU: |
Stock-Keeping Unit, a unique identifier used for each distinct retail product, package,
or version, usually identified with a barcode.
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| SLOGAN: |
A rally cry, catchphrase, or tagline, such as “Just do it” from Nike (from the Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, meaning “war cry”).
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| SOCIAL ADVERTISING: |
Advertising based on knowledge about a customer’s network or tribe.
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| SOCIAL AUTHORITY: |
An individual or an organization that uses social media to develop a recognized expertise in a subject.
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| SOCIAL CIRCLE: |
In social networks, an inclusive group that includes both strong ties and weak ties.
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| SOCIAL DESIGN: |
The design of products, services, and experiences for use with social media.
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| SOCIALIZATION: |
The process of introducing a new idea or potential innovation to a community
or culture.
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| SOCIAL MARKETING: |
The discipline of marketing applied to a social good.
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| SOCIAL MEDIA: |
Web-based and mobile technologies that use multi-way communications to build communities and tribes.
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| SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: |
A business discipline that uses social media to establish brand tribes and communicate marketing messages.
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| SOCIAL NETWORK: |
A community of individuals or organizations, technically known as nodes, which are connected through ties of friendship, kinship, economic interest, status, or other interdependencies.
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| SOCK-PUPPET MARKETING: |
A term referring to an advertising campaign for Pets.com, one of many failed e-commerce companies launched on frothy advertising rather than solid business plans.
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| SOFT-BALL BRAINSTORMING: |
A type of brainstorming in which judgment is suspended until a large number of ideas are generated.
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| SOUND BITE: |
A brief quote taken from a speech or interview to capture its essence.
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| SPAM: |
Bulk email for which the receivers did not opt in.
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| SPECIALIZATION: |
A strategy of differentiation that allows a company to compete against larger or more established companies.
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| SPEECH-STREAM VISIBILITY: |
The quality of a brand name, such as Cheerios, Kleenex, Smuckers, Chevy, or "Caddy", that allows it to be recognized as a proper noun in conversation.
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| SPIDER DIAGRAM: |
An analytical tool that uses circles and lines to visualize the relationships of elements in a brand campaign or other plan.
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| SPIRIT BOOK: |
A publication or online resource that guides the vision, goals, and expected behaviors of a company culture.
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| STAKEHOLDER: |
Any person or firm with a vested interest in a company or brand, including shareholders, employees, partners, suppliers, customers, and community members.
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| STARGAZER: |
A visualization tool that plots the relative strengths of each idea against six key criteria — specifically: Differentiation, Audience Focus, Sales Potential, Longevity, Brand Alignment, and Feasibility.
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| STEALTH ADVERTISING: |
A form of advertising that masquerades as content or public information.
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| STICKYNESS: |
In brand strategy, the degree to which a brand and its category are linked, making brand extensions difficult.
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| STORE BRAND: |
A private label product that can be sold at lower prices or higher margins than its widely distributed competitors; sometimes incorrectly called a generic brand.
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| STORY: |
A sequence of events related in a narrative.
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| STORYBOARD: |
A rough prototype for a movie, play, or other narrative in which sketches are arranged in sequence on a board or screen.
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| STRATEGIC CONVERGENCE: |
The tendency of a differentiated business strategy to drift toward sameness over time.
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| STRATEGIC DECAY: |
The tendency of a business strategy to lose effectiveness as external circumstances change.
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| STRATEGIC DNA: |
A decision filter based on the twin concerns of business strategy and brand strategy.
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| STRATEGIC PYRAMID: |
A hierarchical chart for mapping an organization’s purpose, mission, vision, and goals.
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| STRATEGY: |
| A plan that uses a set of tactics to achieve a goal, often by outmaneuvering competitors. |
| STRETCHINESS: |
In brand strategy, the degree to which a brand can be extended before the link between the brand and its category is broken.
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| STRONG TIES: |
In social networks, a person’s family and closest friends.
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| STYLE GUIDELINES: |
Documentation that describes the graphic standards for a brand, including use of
the trademark, typography, photography, and colors.
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| SUBBRAND: |
A secondary brand that leverages the associations of a master brand.
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| SUBSIDIARY: |
A company that is owned and controlled by a parent company.
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| SUSTAINING INNOVATION: |
An incremental improvement to an existing product, service, or business; opposite of disruptive innovation.
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| SWARMING: |
A strategy of attacking a problem from many angles or with many disciplines at once.
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| SWITCHING COSTS: |
The amount of loss a customer must absorb in switching from one product or service to another.
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| SWOT: |
A common strategy tool for analyzing an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
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| SYMBOL: |
Something used to represent something else; in branding, a trademark — for example, Nike's "swoosh".
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| SYNCHRONOUS COLLABORATION: |
A method of working together in real time, so participants can build on one another’s ideas spontaneously.
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| SYNETICS: |
A brainstorming process that combines creative thinking with a commitment
to action.
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