The Business of BRANDS

How much is a name worth?Look around you. Is there Coke in your refrigerator? Is your computer a Dell or Asus? From toothpaste to electronics, brands and brand-name products are all around us.

It hasn't always been this way. Before the Industrial Revolution and the age of mass media, brands were far less prevalent. But since then, brands have become an increasingly prominent part of our daily lives.

An asset worth protecting
In 2006, a container ship, the Cougar Ace, floundered in the Pacific Ocean. Its cargo included 4,703 brand-new Mazda cars, worth more than US$100 million. None of the cars were damaged, but there was still a problem.

The ship had spent several weeks floating at a 60-degree angle, and nobody knew how that would affect the car's engines, electronics and safety devices. Incredibly, Mazda decided to destroy all of the cars - including the individual parts.

"We couldn't run the risk of damaging the brand name that Mazda worked so hard over the years to develop," explained company spokesperson Jeremy Barnes,

Why would a company go to such great lengths to protect its brand name? The answer is simpler than you might imagine.

Brand benefits
Brands offer benefits to both the consumers that buy them and the companies that make them. They tie the manufacturer's reputation to the product and, as a result, brand-name products are often perceived as being of superior quality.

Brand-name products also tend to have a distinctive look or form. This makes it easier for customers to identify things they are looking for when shopping. It also gives companies a convenient way to get repeat customers and to protect their products through copyright laws.

Thanks to advertising, many brands are associated with certain values, traits and lifestyles. In consequence, the brands we use communicate a message about who we are to others.

The business of brands is huge. Together, the world's 10 biggest brands are valued at more than US$420 billion.  And those numbers don't include the value of the companies - that's the value of the brand names alone! That means that for the corporations that own them, brands are more than just product  names.

They are valuable assets that need to be maintained and protected against devaluation - even if doing so means losing US$100 million.

Grammar Tips:
Thanks to advertising, many brands are associated with certain values, traits and lifestyles
Thanks to advertising - "thanks is appreciated" but "thank to" means "because of"
Because of advertising, many brands are associated with certain values, traits and lifestyles.
Thank to the nice weather, the park clean-up was a pleasant experience for all the participants.
"thank to" also has another negative meaning when native English speakers say "thank to" , it means not giving credit or is blame someone or something.
Our team lost - thanks to Bobby for losing control of the ball.

Vocabulary Tips:
prevalent-盛行，普遍的
*Addiction to on-line games is prevalent among young people.
*This disease is still prevalent in some countries in Africa.
flounder- (n)比目鱼， (v) 在水（雪中，泥地里越陷越深，挣扎的移动。
*Our car floundered in the mud and it took us hours to get the car driving again.
*The swimmer suddenly had a cramp and floundered in the water.
go to great lengths to do something-尽其所能的，无所顾忌的去做某事，费心尽力的。
*The hostess went to great lengths to make us feel welcome.
*The extreme fans went to great lengths to get the singer's autograph.
distinctive -特殊的，独特的。 distinct-使区别，使与众不同的。
*The distinctive taste of cilantro made the dish more delicious.
*The singer's distinctive voice made her easily recognized on the radio.
trait- 特癥，特色。
*This researcher carefully documented the newly discovered species's traits.
*Bob's most agreeable character trait is his sense of humor.
devaluation -价值的降低。 "de"-有“减少”之意, "val"-价值
*The devaluation of the US dollar impacted global economy.
*The failed merger caused devaluation in both corporations.

Chat Room:
generic-普通的，一般的
generic brand -普通的品牌，非品牌商品。
no-name brand - offset of name brand.
no-name brand or store brand are generic brand.自制的，无名气的。
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repeat (v)-重复，反复。 .  (adj.)- more than once，再的，重复的，
repeat offender-贯犯
repeat customers-持续购买的顾客。
the usual - 如往常一样的order the same thing every time when you visit a same store, if the store owner knows you well, you can say " I'll have the usual". 
regular customer - visit very often, regularly come and spend money here. 老顾客

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