There are many available definitions ofÂ� ‘brand’. The Dictionary of Business and Management defines a brand as: “a name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors.” Most of the available dictionary sources define brand as a packaged product only carrying a trade mark name. Some sources have even defined a brand as a manufactured product only.With the recent paradigm shift in marketing thinking, a few branding experts have defined a ‘brand’ as a corner of space in the minds of brand consumers. According to their definition, a brand is mental representation of their interaction with the brand.However, a ‘brand’ should be more suitably defined as a “sum total of all the experiences associated with a product/service or non-product/service entity”.

According to this short definition, a brand is not limited to the physical product or tangible service only. A brand is more than that and beyond. The experiences associated with the brand are not limited to the physical interaction with the product/service. By this definition, a brand can be a product/service entity like a detergent, an insurance company and also a non-product/service entity like a politician, a lawyer, an uncle and even a country.This definition is a better definition of a brand for the following reasons:
1) This definition makes it absolutely clear that a brand is beyond a product or service and may or may not include a tangible product/service.
2) A brand is a sum total of experiences that help consumers form a brand perception in their minds. The perception itself is not a brand but it’s just a mental representation of brand experiences and this nullifies many theories on brand definition.
3) This definition also clarifies that a brand is built not only through effective advertising but a brand is built through the total experience that it offers.