A compilation of brand terms that start with the letter S.
Salience
Consumer's emotional closeness to, or distance from a brand. This is often measured by first or most frequently mentioned brand in response to awareness and association questions.
Saturation
Flooding the market to a point where availability exceeds demand.
Semiotics
Regarding symbolism and how people interpret meaning from words, sounds, and pictures. Commonly used in the development of nomenclature and identity systems.
Service Mark (SM)
A name, a symbol or design registered for the exclusive use by a brand to distinguish a specific service provider.
Shadow Endorsement
This type of brand architecture is similar to an endorsement brand. However, the endorsement is never overtly stated. (e.g., Disney's relationship to Touchstone Pictures)
Shelf Talker
A sign or tag used at retail to focus consumer attention on a promoted product or offering.
Simultaneous Acceptance
Consumer acceptance of multiple brands in a given market, each for a different reason. (e.g., Puma for style, New Balance for function)
Situation Placement
This differs from product placement in that the brand is the center of the story rather than being interjected into an existing vehicle, such as a movie, or television program.
Small Brand Advantage
The phenomenon in which the competitive advantage in branding shifts from large companies with large budgets to favoring smaller, more agile companies who can more easily synchronize their entire organization to create brand harmony.
Social Risk
Concern or doubt in the buyer's mind that the purchase of a given brand will not be approved of by others.
Sonicon
A recognizable audio theme that provides a unifying idea upon which nonverbal sounds can be composed. This mnemonic device serves as a brand signal or audio trademark.
(e.g., Nokia's classic ring tone is one of the most well known in the world—74 percent of Europeans and 46 percent of Americans recognize and associate the tone with Nokia.)
Spontaneous Awareness
Consumer familiarity and/or recognition of a brand when asked to name brands in a given category.
Stand-Alone Brand
In this type of Brand Architecture each brand stands independently from its parent company with no visible link between the brand and its parent company. This focuses relevance while mitigating risk. (e.g., Tide, Pampers and Duracell are all Proctor & Gamble brands.)
Staples
Sub-category of convenience goods consisting of frequently purchased essential items.
Strap Line
Strategic Change
Strengthening a brand's competitive position through creation, improvement, reduction and/or elimination of the elements that effect the brand experience.
Strategic Intent
Strategic intent refers to goals and objectives rather than the exact plan of action to achieve those goals and objectives. This method allows implementers to adapt tactics to account for changing market dynamics.
Strategic Planning
Determining the company's objectives, course of action and the allocation of the necessary resources to achieve them.
Strategy Tax
When a company is constrained in ways that go against competitiveness, or user satisfaction, in order to further the cause of another product or service that the company offers.
Sub-Culture
Any cultural lifestyles, brands and/or activities that are lesser known, unknown or generally unaccepted within a population and thought to be outside the norm.
Substitute
Any offering that can equally fulfill the function(s) of another.