Trademark and brand, one is a legal concept and the other is an economic concept. Trademark and brand achieve integration and unity in the process of use, forming a consensus. That is, once a trademark is used for goods and services, the trademark is a brand and the brand is a trademark. Therefore, a trademark becomes a brand through use, and a brand obtains legal protection through registration.
Every enterprise must make a top-level design for its own trademark and brand, and formulate a trademark and brand strategy that is consistent with its current development status and prospects. Corporate trademark and brand strategy is an important part of corporate business strategy and must match and integrate with corporate business strategy. Regarding the current problems that enterprises have in establishing trademarks and brands, he mainly summarized them into the following three situations: first, they did not expect it; they did not take care of it; and they did not know. Unexpectedly, that is, they only thought about how to succeed and how to become bigger and stronger, but never thought about strategically registering their trademarks globally; they did not know, that is, they did not know that before opening up the international market, they must first carry out trademark internationalization. I don’t know whether to register through Madrid or register in the target country; I don’t care, that is, I am only busy with market development, and do not consider the issue of trademark registration in the future target market as an important issue, or think that trademark registration is related to market development. It's not a big deal, so I can't even bother registering a trademark.
The above three situations will bring adverse consequences to the company’s trademark and brand development or create hidden dangers for the company in market development: First, it may be the same as someone else’s trademark in the target country market. Or similar; secondly, the trademark you use is registered by other companies abroad because it is not registered in time, resulting in a ban on market entry; thirdly, the trademark you have worked so hard to create may become a common name, and the fruits of your labor will not be protected by law. Fourth, in the context of the Internet, brand domain names related to the brand have not been effectively protected, resulting in the brand's online entrance being blocked.
In addition, some companies will only attract the attention of business owners when there are legal issues with their trademarks and brands. Some companies lack mechanisms and guarantees to prevent trademark legal risks. All these situations lead to companies realizing that when legal problems arise with their trademarks: they fail to discover them in time, fail to retain evidence, and do not know how to respond.
As for how companies can solve their own problems in creating trademarks and brands, the author suggests that companies should grasp the historical laws of trademarks and brands. It is necessary to understand the historical laws of the development of well-known trademarks and brands at home and abroad, and grasp the historical laws of the development of well-known brands from multiple dimensions and angles such as time, space, economy, and culture. While grasping the historical laws of trademarks and brands, we must also learn from experiences and lessons from brands that have disappeared in history.
In brand cultivation, enterprises must correctly grasp the inherent laws of trademark and brand development. The success of any trademark brand is not accidental and has its own inherent laws to follow. Brands that become famous overnight will not last long. Creating a trademark brand requires time, patience, perseverance, responsibility and social responsibility. Have good ideas, but don’t rely on good ideas. Use skill but don't take tricks. That is to say, you can make a big difference, but you can't take chances. Therefore, there are five key points that should be paid attention to when creating a trademark brand:
First, ensure that the rights are in hand. Whether you register or purchase it by yourself, you must ensure that the trademark rights are legally complete and without defects; you must ensure that your trademark is not counterfeited or infringed by others, and you must not copy other people's trademarks or infringe other people's trademarks; Always monitor whether your trademark will be registered by others in a similar category. Have your previously registered trademarks been revoked by others on the grounds of not being used for three years? You can also entrust a professional service agency to conduct related trademark inspections. Monitoring; Domestic and foreign trademark registrations must be planned in advance according to the company's development plan. At the same time, it must keep pace with the times. Different trademark carriers such as sound trademarks and trademark domain names that match the brand should also be registered to avoid brand loss and customer loss. In addition, if the company's mailing address and contact number change, it must be promptly changed at the Trademark Office; a suitable and conscientious trademark agency must be found, and a dedicated person shall be arranged to be responsible for the company's trademark legal affairs and brand promotion.
The second is to use your own trademark well. To use your own trademark well is to actually use your legal trademark for goods/services, so that your trademark becomes a well-known trademark brand during use.
We must do a good job in marketing and promotion, especially integrated marketing; we must make good use of the Internet while respecting the Internet; in terms of advertising and promotion, we must highlight the trademark, brand, characteristics and selling points of our products and services, rather than highlighting the spokesperson. Prevent your own illegal advertising and overdraft your brand reputation; pay attention to word-of-mouth communication of your trademark and brand; focus on selecting your own target groups and directional publicity of your trademark and brand.
The third is to maintain your own trademark and brand. Enterprises should pay attention to after-sales service, customer feedback and return visits, respect consumers' feelings, changes in customer needs, etc. Make good use of brand endorsements to enhance your brand with well-known brands. For different levels of goods and services, it is better to use different trademarks. However, it is necessary to prevent mutual erosion between trademarks and brands.
The fourth is to do a good job in crisis response for trademarks and brands. The root cause of brand emergencies is defects in brand management. The development of any brand is not smooth sailing. Only by actively responding to crises and handling them properly can we resist the invasion of crises and consolidate brand strength. When dealing with a brand crisis, we must follow the brand crisis handling rules, express our attitude immediately, face it rather than avoid it, follow the basic principle of "people-oriented", admit mistakes frankly, accept public criticism humbly, and take active rescue or improvement measures. Resolve misunderstandings or hostility, and then establish trusting relationships with consumers and the public.
The fifth is to let trademarks and brands create value. In the early stages of enterprise development, the quality of goods and services and the functions of products and services are used to attract consumers and establish a good image of the trademark brand. When the company's products and services reach a certain market share, that is to say, after the trademark brand has a certain popularity in the market, the trademark brand's role in leading products and services will become more and more prominent, and the brand's popularity and reputation will It will attract more consumers. At the same time, given the loyalty of consumers to trademarks and brands, it will also quickly increase the share of products and services and actively promote the prosperity and development of products and services.
Finally, the creation of well-known trademarks and brands by enterprises can be divided into "four levels". One level is to leave a good impression on consumers; the second level is to provide consumers with a good experience; the third level is to give consumers noble psychological satisfaction; the fourth level is to use brand positioning theory to register trademarks and brands in the minds of consumers. When an enterprise reaches the fourth level in creating a trademark brand, it can truly realize the creation of value by the trademark brand.