Glossary
Brand strategy language, without the fog.
Use these definitions to name the decision in front of you, question advice precisely, and brief the work with less guesswork.
Brand positioning
Brand recognition
- Distinctive assetsBrand elements, such as colours, shapes, sounds and phrases, that buyers associate with a particular brand.
- Mental availabilityHow readily buyers notice, recognise or think of a brand across relevant buying situations.
- Brand salienceThe tendency for a brand to be noticed or remembered in buying situations. Its measurement depends on the cues used.
- RecognitionThe ability to identify a brand as something seen or heard before when the brand is presented as a cue.
- Category entry pointsThe needs, occasions and circumstances that prompt buyers to think about a product or service category and recall possible brands.
- Answer engine optimisationWork intended to help useful content appear in direct answers, such as featured snippets or AI responses. Selection remains with the search system.
- Generative engine optimisationWork intended to improve a source's visibility in answers produced by generative search systems, with results measured for a defined system and query set.
Verbal identity
- Verbal identityThe words a brand owns: its vocabulary, its rhythm, the sentences only it would say.
- Tone of voiceThe consistent personality in how a brand speaks, kept steady across every channel and every writer.
- Sound symbolismAssociations between speech sounds and perceived qualities, such as a rounded or pointed shape. These patterns can inform questions when testing a name.
Brand architecture