At Hua & Hua, we recognize that while numerous iconic brands have been established globally over the past century, the underlying theory of branding has remained incomplete. This stems from an etymological misinterpretation of the term "brand," which has diverted branding theory from its proper course for over a hundred years.
In light of this, we have introduced a new definition of "brand" to realign and reconstruct the global branding theory framework.
Examining Traditional Definitions of "Brand".
According to the American Marketing Association, the definition of a brand is: “A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”
This definition is widely used in textbooks around the world. However, it contains two fundamental philosophical errors:
I. Purpose Error: The purpose of a brand is not just to identify and differentiate but to drive sales and communication.
II. Category Error: A brand is not an external label for a product; rather, it is intrinsically linked to it. A brand and a product are interdependent: a brand encompasses the product, and the product inherently includes the brand.
This is a philosophical issue, specifically related to the concept of purpose.
Aristotle stated that everything has a primary concept, which is the concept of "telos" (Purpose). He said, “The primary subject of study, the most essential knowledge, is the understanding of Purpose; and Purpose is the intrinsic good of everything, generally considered the highest good in nature.” Achieving this purpose represents the highest good. Aristotle also suggested that “Purpose is beauty.” Kant argued that “Purpose surpasses beauty.”
Following the concept of Purpose is the concept of necessity. Once we understand the Purpose of a thing and determine how to achieve it, we can inevitably realize that Purpose —this constitutes scientific knowledge.
So, is the Purpose of a brand merely identification and differentiation? Certainly not!
If our concept of Purpose is limited to identification and differentiation, then our focus would be on achieving those outcomes. This misunderstanding is the root cause of errors in current branding practices.
In fact, the ultimate goal of building a brand is to drive sales. Hua & Hua has summarized this into two key objectives: “Buy my Product, Spread my Name”
First is to encourage customers to buy from me; Second, to promote my brand, essentially facilitating sales. These two goals can be unified under the overarching aim of driving sales. We must focus on how to ensure customers not only purchase from us but also help spread our brand.
We need to focus on how to ensure that customers not only purchase from us but also promote our brand. Understanding these two objectives—driving purchases and encouraging brand advocacy—leads to a fundamentally different brand theory and approach.
Identifying the purpose of a brand as merely identification and differentiation is an etymological error. The English word “BRAND” originally referred to a mark burn used over 2,000 years ago to identify livestock and distinguish them from others. This historical meaning has influenced and distorted modern definitions of branding and remains uncorrected.
Based on this, Hua & Hua redefines the term "Brand" as follows:
I. The meaning of a Brand should be both the product and its brand, encompassing the Trinity of Discourse, Product, and Sign (BRAND TRINITY)—a unified entity with three dimensions.
II. The purpose of building a brand is to help the public to discover, purchase, identify, remember, recognize, repurchase, and spread the brand.
III. At the same time, a brand also reduces societal oversight costs for enterprises and serves as a risk mitigation mechanism for consumer rihts protection.
① Firstly, the meaning of a Brand should be both the product and its brand, encompassing the Trinity of discourse, product, and sign (BRAND TRINITY)—a unified entity with three dimensions.
In the Xinhua Dictionary, a brand is defined as: “A brand is a label of a product, sometimes specifically referring to a well-known brand.” This reflects the common usage of the term in everyday life.
In our professional definition, we replace “of” with “and” to emphasize the Trinity of product, discourse, and sign. This concept aligns with semiotics, where word, object, and form are unified.
Example: Eastroc Beverage
Can we separate the product from the brand name “Eastroc Beverage”?
Consider a philosophical question: The term “sun” refers to the celestial body in the sky. Can the word “sun” be separated from the physical entity it represents? Some might argue that they can be divided into “sun” as a term and “sun” as an object. However, even when discussing “the thing called ‘sun,’” the term “sun” is still necessary. This illustrates the fundamental philosophical issue of “the inseparability of word and object.”
Heidegger said, “Language is the house of being.” Without the coherence of language, the essence of being cannot be fully realized or understood. Similarly, Chinese culture has a related concept from the Tao Te Ching: “The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all. A name is the mother of things; with a name, there is existence.”
Take the Eastroc Beverages product with its specific packaging design as an example. The packaging design is a symbolic representation of the product. This sign and the product are inseparable. The concept of "product, discourse, and sign" being integrated—known as the “Brand Trinity” in English—reflects this unity. Trinity, borrowed from Christian terminology (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), can be imagined as: discourse as the Father, product as the Son, and sign as the Holy Spirit.
Since brands often encompass a range of products, the discourse, product, and sign evolve into discourse systems, product structures, and sign systems, respectively. This forms the core framework of Hua & Hua's “Brand Triangle Theory.”
In the Chinese context, we refer to Hua & Hua's brand theory as the “Brand Triangle Theory” rather than the “Brand Trinity Theory” because the triangle is easier to remember and aligns with Peirce’s “semiotic triangle”—sign, object, and interpretant—corresponding to the sign system, product structure, and discourse system. In English, “Trinity” conveys a deeper understanding of the concept.
② Secondly, the purpose of establishing a brand is not merely identification and differentiation but primarily sales and communication.
Building a brand aims to help the public discover, purchase, identify, remember, recognize, repurchase, and spread the brand.
The sequence of these steps is crucial. We place "remember" as the third step, with discovery and purchase preceding it; remember is followed by recognize, and repurchase; and finally, we emphasize "spreading.”
Reflecting on Aristotle's concepts of purpose and necessity, we define brand-building with the belief that by following this approach, consumers will inevitably discover, purchase, identify, remember, recognize, repurchase, and spread the brand thus fulfilling all brand objectives!
I. Always prioritize "Discover"!
Traditional brand theory starts with “Identify” and “Recognize”, aiming for brand recognition or even loyalty. Firstly, this approach is ethically flawed as customers have no obligation to be loyal to us; instead, we have the obligation to be loyal to them.
Secondly, this theory is practically ineffective.
Why is that? In the era of traditional advertising, there was an empirical statistic:
76% of purchasing decisions are made on the point of sale.
According to the 2012 Shopper Engagement Study by POPAI, 76% of purchasing decisions are made in-store, where consumers often make their decisions on the spot.
Source: The 2012 Shopper Engagement Study Report published by the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI)
for the global retail industry.
At the point of sale, people frequently change their purchasing decisions due to new stimuli or end up buying items they had not originally intended to purchase. This type of on-the-spot decision-making accounts for 76% of all purchase behaviors.
In other words, if our brand theory focuses on “Identify” and “Brand Loyalty,” it only applies to 24% of the situation, and this theory is incomplete.
Therefore, in Hua & Hua method, we always prioritize discovery and engagement first, followed by using the “Hua & Hua 'Three Purchases' Theory” — Purchase Rationales, Purchase Instruction, and Purchase Guide — to drive purchase.
This distinction is what sets Hua & Hua apart and is the reason behind the success of our cases.
In recent years, with the advent of the mobile internet era, a saying has emerged: "Young people no longer recognize brands when shopping."
Is it true that young people no longer recognize brands? Certainly not!
What actually happens is that shopping on mobile screens is more efficient than in physical stores, with more stimuli and opportunities for impulse decisions, potentially exceeding the 76% threshold.
Therefore, we prioritize “Discover” and “Purchase” first, followed by “Identify” and “Remember”.
II. “Identify” and “Remember” should be treated as distinct and dedicated tasks.
Why do we placed “Identify” and “Remember” after “Purchase”? Because with the vast number of products we use, we don’t pay attention to what brand they are.
For example, I can't recall the brand of my refrigerator at home! If you ask me about my frequently used TV, I might be unsure if it's Sony or Samsung. Even my daily-use coffee machine—I've never paid attention to its brand.
Brands and consumers have a weak connection, not a strong one. We often forget the names of acquaintances, let alone remember brands!
Therefore “Identify” and “Remember” need to be treated as distinct, dedicated tasks!
When Hua & Hua designed the branding for J-LOONG Spicy Strips, they came up with a distinctive sign to enhance. “identify” and “remember”: we designed a dragon at the tear strip of the packaging, with its mouth facing the tear and its body stating: “Tear Along, Tasty at J-LOONG!” While customers may not pay much attention to the brand when purchasing snacks in the store, they must locate the tear strip when consuming the product. This design ensures that customers encounter our brand sign and slogan billions of times each year, reinforcing the memory of the brand.
III. Hua & Hua places special emphasis on the final step—Spreading the Word (Brand Advocacy)!
After “Identify” and “Remember” comes “Recognize” and “Repurchase”, which are easy to understand. However, Hua & Hua emphasize the final step—"Spreading the Word”!
Brand advocacy transforms the funnel of consumer engagement into a cycle. This is Hua & Hua’s propagation theory, the key to effective dissemination lies not just in broadcasting but in encouraging customers to advocate for our brand.
When customers become brand advocates, they are essentially doing free advertising for us by spreading our positive reputation. The essence of effective advocacy, according to Hua & Hua’s theory, is captured in two principles: "Memorable" and "Enjoyable talking point."
This is Hua & Hua’s brand equity theory — brand equity is the brand’s discourse; it is the actual words exchanged among people when discussing the brand. Without discourse, there is no discussion, and without discussion, there is no brand equity.
To encourage discussion, something first needs to be memorable. For instance, J-Loong's experience of tearing open the packaging is memorable and thus worth discussing. Similarly, the Snow King image and MIXUE’s advertising song are also memorable, making them subjects of discussion. When you read this article, there are likely memorable elements that make it worth talking about. Any discussion about Hua & Hua also contributes to the propagation of its brand.
The purpose of a brand is to help the public discover, purchase, identify, remember, recognize, repurchase, and spread it. This corresponds to Hua & Hua’s “Four Consumer Roles” Theory — Audience, Buyer, User Experience, and Communicator.
IV. Finally, there is one more statement to the brand definition.
③ At the same time, a brand also reduces the societal cost of supervising, a company and serves as a risk prevention mechanism for consumer rights protection.
Back to Aristotle's philosophy, the primary concept of things is the concept of purpose.
The concept of purpose is divided into two levels—external purpose and internal purpose. Achieving the external purpose is a prerequisite for realizing the internal purpose.
This is the philosophical foundation of "altruism." Just like an employee who joins a company with the internal purpose of getting a promotion and a raise, he must fulfill the external purpose, which is creating value for the company, to achieve his internal purpose. Similarly, a company's purpose is to make a profit to survive and to realize its internal purpose, it must meet the external purposes of society, customers, and employees.
The external purpose of a brand is to reduce the societal cost of supervising a company and serve as a risk prevention mechanism for consumer rights protection. This point also led to the development of Hua & Hua's public relations theory, which will not be detailed in this article.
To summarize Hua & Hua’s definition of “Brand”:
1.The meaning of a Brand should be both the product and its brand, a trinity of discourse, product, and sign (BRAND TRINITY)—a single entity with three aspects.
2.Companies build brands to help the public in Discover, Purchase, Identify, Remember, Recognize, Repurchase, and Spreading the word (Brand Advocacy).
3.Additionally, a brand reduces the social oversight costs for businesses and serves as a mechanism for safeguarding consumer rights and mitigating risks.
