Brand Management

Below is an excerpt from John McKeown’s November 2015 Monthly IP Bulletin.

Brand Management

A brand should be managed as an economic asset. Someone must be responsible for the management of the brand. In larger organizations the responsible individual will have to coordinate management of the brand across the organization of the brand owner including different divisions or business units.

In addition, brand execution will have to be coordinated across different forms of media and in different markets. Co-ordination is particularly important when a brand owner uses both online and bricks and mortar channels. The brand should be presented in the same fashion in both channels.

Choosing a Brand Name

There are a number of considerations and cautions which are relevant to choosing a brand name. In order to consider and apply these considerations effectively a process must be in place. In smaller companies the process may be carried out by a single individual but in a larger organization a number of people will be involved. In all cases the process needs to be systematic and the relevant considerations must be objectively considered.

A proposed brand name should be reviewed by qualified counsel familiar with the issues that arise under the Trademarks Act. For example, will the trademark be available for use and registrable under the Act? Appropriate searches must be carried out to answer this question in each of the countries the brand will be offered.

Will the proposed brand name actually distinguish the goods or services in association with which it is proposed to be used from the goods and services of others? If the proposed brand name is a name or surname of an individual or if it is potentially descriptive of the character or quality of the wares or services or if it is weak and lacking inherent distinctiveness, these issues should be raised and objectively considered before proceeding any further.

Online Brand Management

Online marketing, including search engine marketing and social media marketing, has become big business. Brand owners must strive to devise appropriate strategies directed at online marketing.

At the same time as the brand name selection process is taking place, consideration should be given to potential online branding and domain name availability. Domain names must be chosen and secured in the appropriate generic and country Top Level Domains. This will be a significantly more complicated task as the result of the delegation of the new gTLDs. In addition searches can be carried out to determine if the brand name is in use as a username on key social media websites.

Once chosen the domain names must be coordinated and managed appropriately. Typically generic contact information should be developed and maintained. Where appropriate, consideration can be given to protecting domain names as trademarks.

Depending on the size of the organization a designated individual must take responsibility for online branding.

More to follow next month.

The INTA Leadership Meeting

I will be attending the meeting which is to be held in Panama City, Panama November 17-20, 2015. If you are attending and would like to meet please let me know.