A brand is a complex of perceptions, opinions, associations, emotions, and value characteristics about a product or service in the consumer's mind; it is the mental shell of a product or service— the brand is an abstract name. A brand is not a thing, product, company, or organization. Brands do not exist in the real world; they are mental constructs. A brand is best described as the sum of all a person's experiences and perceptions of a thing, product, company, or organization. Brands exist in the consciousness of specific individuals or society as a whole.
As an association in the minds of the target audience, a brand symbolizes certain qualities of a product or characteristics of the product's manufacturer. To achieve this, the brand must be recognizable; typically, rights to its use are legally protected. Additionally, one of the important components of a brand is its reputation—both of individual employees and of the company as a whole, as well as its products.