Originally, branding was the placing on animals (usually by burning) of an identifying mark.  In a business context, branding refers to the imposing of a distinctive identity, a brand, on goods and services.  Philip Kotler, author of “Marketing Management”, a standard textbook, defines a brand as: “A name, term, symbol or design (or a combination of them) which is intended to signify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of the competitors.”
Branding bestows a number of benefits:
• It reassures consumers …