Should I register a trademark?

Today, phrases like brand – brand logo – brand identity – have become popular and familiar to all classes. However, not everyone understands the exact meaning of the three concepts above. A brand logo is not a brand and certainly not a brand identity. They have different roles, but when standing together, they form a group of images that help customers and consumers perceive the value, products and image of the business.

For more details, let’s learn from the concept What is a Brand?

1. What is a Brand?

Branding – or the story of branding – has never been an easy problem to solve, there have been hundreds of guidebooks written on this topic of branding. However, we can understand “brand” as an organization, service or product with a “personality” shaped by the audience’s perception.

A brand is an invaluable asset of an organization, business, or individual, including the whole, a type of product or service associated with production activities. It can be said that the brand is the soul that determines the success of the business development.

Many people think that a brand only includes a few elements such as: a few colors, a few fonts, a logo, a slogan, and maybe some music added to media products… In fact, a brand is much more complex than that. In terms of recognition, a brand is a name or sign that helps identify a product. A successful brand marks a product as having a sustainable competitive advantage. Microsoft, IBM, BMW, Coca Cola, Shell… are typical examples of corporate brands.

“A product is something made in a factory, a brand is something a customer buys. A product is something that can be easily imitated. A brand is unique. A product is quickly outdated, a brand is timeless” – Stephen King.

2. Brand logo (Logo)

To understand what a logo is, we must first understand what it is. According to the definition of Vietnamese law, “A brand logo is a graphic element, symbol, or icon of a brand or trademark and goes with its typeface, that is, arranged in a unique typeface or arranged in an individual way”. The logo is created with hidden meanings, concise, symbolizing power, replacing the verbal expression of an individual or business organization.

So in short: A logo is a visual product including images or words that are Combine both images and text to help identify the brand.

• The image part in the logo: Are the symbols, representing the personality of the product/brand. This image part requires to be easy to recognize, easy to remember and impress the viewer.

• The text part on the logo: The text on the logo is usually the brand name designed with a stylized font. If combined with images, the text on the logo needs to use a suitable format to, along with the image part, create an identifying mark suitable for the business.

3. Brand identity is What? (Brand Identify)

An important role in a company’s “brand” or “image” is the brand identity. A company’s brand identity is how the company wants its customers to feel about the company. The components of the brand identity (name, logo, colors, slogan, typography) are created to reflect the value that the company brings to customers and the market. These guidelines ensure that the company’s characteristics will be kept consistent, making it easily recognizable to customers.

A corporate identity typically includes:

• Logo

• Stationery (letterhead + business card + envelope, etc.)
• Marketing products (Flyers, brochures, books, websites, etc.)
• Products & packaging (Products sold and the packaging contained in them) that)
• Apparel design (Clothing items, uniforms for employees to wear)
• Signage, architecture (Interior and exterior design)
• Means of communication (sound, intro, outtro, smell, touch, etc.)
• And anything else that visually represents the business.

There is a lot of work when it comes to building a strong and consistent Brand Identity. However, there are common points that any business needs to do:

• Internal analysis and market analysis: SWOT analysis will give you a complete view of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the business. This helps company leaders clearly see their position and determine where they want to go.

• Define the main business objectives: Brand identity needs to be the realization of business objectives.

• Define the target customers: Who is the company trying to sell its products and services to?

• Define the personality and message it wants to convey: How does the company want the market to perceive its brand?

Registering a brand identity has many great effects on businesses, most businesses know its importance. However, not everyone clearly understands its effects and importance:

• Identify your brand compared to other brands, thanks to this unique brand recognition, businesses promote their products to customers.

• Strengthen the trust of your business with customers. For a quality brand, sustainable development will gain trust from partners as well as customers.
• Increase the advantage in the process of competition in the market, the psychology of investors as well as customers, the higher the quality of the brand, the higher the reliability.
• Reduce advertising costs for the long term, when the brand has a position in the economy, customers and partners will come to it without having to advertise.

Thus, legally registering a trademark is to protect the trademark rights and sustainable development of a business.