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164-490: Square Co., Ltd. , also known under its international brand name SquareSoft , was a Japanese video game developer and publisher . It was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto , who spun off part of his father's electronics company Den-Yu-Sha. Among its early employees were designers Hironobu Sakaguchi , Hiromichi Tanaka , Akitoshi Kawazu and Koichi Ishii , artist Kazuko Shibuya , programmer Nasir Gebelli , and composer Nobuo Uematsu . Initially focusing on action games ,

328-582: A box-office bomb , the film damaged Square's finances, and led to the closure of Square Pictures. Following both the failure of The Spirits Within and a delay of Final Fantasy X (2001) for the PlayStation 2 , Square suffered a financial loss for the first time, prompting Sakaguchi, Takechi, and director Masatsugu Hiramatsu to resign from their positions. Sakaguchi was kept on as executive producer for Final Fantasy , while Takechi and Hiramatsu were retained as external consultants. This period left Sakaguchi in

492-675: A joint-venture partnership with Electronic Arts ; Square Electronic Arts published Square titles in North America, while Electronic Arts Square published Electronic Arts titles in Japan. The partnership emerged the year following Electronic Arts winding down a similar partnership with Victor in December 1997. Shares were distributed between the two on a 70/30 basis relating to their role; Square Electronic Arts had Square owning 70%, while Electronic Arts owned 30%. Electronic Arts Square would also develop

656-639: A novel of the same name by Hideaki Sena ; Front Mission , which began on the Super Famicom but was transferred to the PlayStation beginning with its second entry ; and the Final Fantasy spin-off series Chocobo , starring an incarnation of the titular mascot character . As Square was estranged from Nintendo at the time, the company supported other platforms including the WonderSwan and Windows . Late in

820-439: A target audience . Marketers tend to treat brands as more than the difference between the actual cost of a product and its selling price; rather brands represent the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to the consumer and are often treated as the total investment in brand building activities including marketing communications. Consumers may look on branding as an aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote

984-469: A titulus pictus . The inscription typically specified information such as place of origin, destination, type of product and occasionally quality claims or the name of the manufacturer. Roman marks or inscriptions were applied to a very wide variety of goods, including, pots, ceramics, amphorae (storage/shipping containers) and on factory-produced oil-lamps. Carbonized loaves of bread , found at Herculaneum , indicate that some bakers stamped their bread with

1148-636: A brand may recognize that advertising touchpoints are most effective during the pre-purchase experience stage therefore they may target their advertisements to new customers rather than to existing customers. Overall, a brand has the ability to strengthen brand equity by using IMC branding communications through touchpoints. Brand communication is important in ensuring brand success in the business world and refers to how businesses transmit their brand messages, characteristics and attributes to their consumers . One method of brand communication that companies can exploit involves electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). eWOM

1312-400: A brand may showcase its primary attribute as environmental friendliness. However, a brand's attributes alone are not enough to persuade a customer into purchasing the product. These attributes must be communicated through benefits , which are more emotional translations. If a brand's attribute is being environmentally friendly, customers will receive the benefit of feeling that they are helping

1476-403: A brand name is a "memory heuristic": a convenient way to remember preferred product choices. A brand name is not to be confused with a trademark which refers to the brand name or part of a brand that is legally protected. For example, Coca-Cola not only protects the brand name, Coca-Cola , but also protects the distinctive Spencerian script and the contoured shape of the bottle. Brand identity

1640-463: A brand with consumers. For example, a jingle or background music can have a positive effect on brand recognition, purchasing behaviour and brand recall. Therefore, when looking to communicate a brand with chosen consumers, companies should investigate a channel of communication that is most suitable for their short-term and long-term aims and should choose a method of communication that is most likely to reach their target consumers. The match-up between

1804-478: A brand, the more they trusted the brand. This suggests that a company could look to employ a social-media campaign to gain consumer trust and loyalty as well as in the pursuit of communicating brand messages. McKee (2014) also looked into brand communication and states that when communicating a brand, a company should look to simplify its message as this will lead to more value being portrayed as well as an increased chance of target consumers recalling and recognizing

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1968-508: A broad range of goods. In 1266, makers' marks on bread became compulsory in England. The Italians used brands in the form of watermarks on paper in the 13th century. Blind stamps , hallmarks , and silver-makers' marks —all types of brand—became widely used across Europe during this period. Hallmarks, although known from the 4th-century, especially in Byzantium, only came into general use during

2132-412: A category is differentiated from its competing brands, and thus the brand helps customers & potential customers understand which brand satisfies their needs. Thus, the brand offers the customer a short-cut to understanding the different product or service offerings that make up a particular category. Brand awareness is a key step in the customer's purchase decision process, since some kind of awareness

2296-417: A certain attractive quality or characteristic (see also brand promise). From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services can command higher prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic , store-branded product), potential purchasers may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the perceived quality of

2460-627: A contract between the two companies. Eidos Interactive notably handled the Windows ports of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII . In Europe, Square's local branch self-published a number of games including mainline Final Fantasy titles. It also partnered with third-party companies including Eidos, Crave Entertainment , and Infogrames for either publishing or distribution of different titles. In 1989, Square established SquareSoft in Redmond, Washington , to provide development and publishing support in

2624-1021: A corporation hopes to accomplish, and to explain why customers should choose one brand over its competitors. Brand personality refers to "the set of human personality traits that are both applicable to and relevant for brands." Marketers and consumer researchers often argue that brands can be imbued with human-like characteristics which resonate with potential consumers. Such personality traits can assist marketers to create unique, brands that are differentiated from rival brands. Aaker conceptualized brand personality as consisting of five broad dimensions, namely: sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful), excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, and up to date), competence (reliable, intelligent, and successful), sophistication (glamorous, upper class, charming), and ruggedness (outdoorsy and tough). Subsequent research studies have suggested that Aaker's dimensions of brand personality are relatively stable across different industries, market segments and over time. Much of

2788-558: A dedicated CGI film studio called Square Pictures in Hawaii; his aim was to both develop The Spirits Within and help with further development of Square's CGI technology. By the end of 2001, Square Pictures was dissolved and merged into Visual Works. Square USA's Hawaiian branch developed the CGI short "Final Flight of the Osiris" that later formed part of the 2003 anthology film The Animatrix . The branch

2952-403: A desire to work on their own projects. These included Takahashi and Tanaka, Fujioka, Nishi, Kikuta, Mitsuda, and Mana artist Shinichi Kameoka. In April 2000, Suzuki was appointed Square's new President, while Takechi became a company chairman. Also at this time, two outside directors were appointed, Kenichi Ohmae of Ohmae & Associates and Makoto Naruke of Microsoft . The corporate reshuffle

3116-472: A different stage in a customer's cognitive ability to address the brand in a given circumstance. Marketers typically identify two distinct types of brand awareness; namely brand recall (also known as unaided recall or occasionally spontaneous recall ) and brand recognition (also known as aided brand recall ). These types of awareness operate in entirely different ways with important implications for marketing strategy and advertising. Brand recognition

3280-533: A family firm in case a family controls more than 50% of the voting rights. For a publicly listed firm, a firm is classified as a family firm in case the family holds at least 32% of the voting rights. Family owned businesses account for over 30% of companies with sales over $ 1 billion. In a family business, two or more members within the management team are drawn from the owning family. Family businesses can have owners who are not family members. Family businesses may also be managed by individuals who are not members of

3444-403: A founder intends to transfer ownership in the family business to their four children, two of whom work in the business, how do they balance these unequal differences? The four siblings need a system to do this themselves when the founder is no longer involved. The third situation is when there are multiple owners and some or all of the owners are not in management. Given the situation above, there

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3608-462: A given category, when prompted with a brand name, a larger number of consumers are typically able to recognize it. Brand recognition is most successful when people can elicit recognition without being explicitly exposed to the company's name, but rather through visual signifiers like logos, slogans, and colors. For example, Disney successfully branded its particular script font (originally created for Walt Disney's "signature" logo ), which it used in

3772-493: A high level of brand equity. Brand owners manage their brands carefully to create shareholder value . Brand valuation is a management technique that ascribes a monetary value to a brand. The word brand , originally meaning a burning piece of wood, comes from a Middle English brand , meaning "torch", from an Old English brand . It became to also mean the mark from burning with a branding iron. Branding and labeling have an ancient history. Branding probably began with

3936-464: A lead artist, and Nojima as scenario writer. Released worldwide in 1997, Final Fantasy VII was a worldwide commercial and critical success, bringing Square international fame. Also in 1997, at Square's invitation, Takechi returned and took Mizuno's place as President. Three new hires during the period were Shinji Hashimoto , Yasumi Matsuno , and Masashi Hamauzu . Hashimoto joined in 1995 as promotions producer for Final Fantasy VII . Matsuno, along with

4100-507: A low-involvement purchasing decision. Brand recognition is often the mode of brand awareness that operates in retail shopping environments. When presented with a product at the point-of-sale, or after viewing its visual packaging, consumers are able to recognize the brand and may be able to associate it with attributes or meanings acquired through exposure to promotion or word-of-mouth referrals. In contrast to brand recall, where few consumers are able to spontaneously recall brand names within

4264-465: A merger of two companies "at their height". Despite this, the merger had its skeptics, particularly Miyamoto who did not want to see his controlling stake diluted in a merged company. Miyamoto's issue was resolved by altering the exchange ratio to one Square share for 0.81 Enix shares, and the merger was greenlit. Square Enix was formed on April 1, 2003, with Enix as the surviving corporate entity and Square dissolving its departments and subsidiaries into

4428-704: A number of other developers, had left Quest Corporation following the release of Tactics Ogre (1995), and worked with Sakaguchi on Final Fantasy Tactics (1997). Hamauzu joined in 1996, and worked on Final Fantasy spin-off titles and the SaGa series. Sakaguchi, working on other projects, took on the role of executive producer for the series beginning with Final Fantasy VIII , and Hashimoto stepped in as producer. Hirata went from an administrative position to lead producer, focusing on diversifying Square's library into new game genres. Several properties were introduced during this period. These included Parasite Eve , based on

4592-411: A number of translators. Following the release of Final Fantasy VII , which saw criticism for its localization, Square created a new internal department to encourage higher quality. Initially having only two employees, it grew steadily over the years. Individual games still ran into difficulties due to their large text sizes, difficulties translating some culture-specific elements, potential censorship, and

4756-458: A prime source of wealth creation and employment. In some countries, many of the largest publicly listed firms are family-owned. A firm is said to be family-owned if a person is the controlling shareholder; that is, a person (rather than a state, corporation, management trust, or mutual fund) can garner enough shares to assure at least 20% of the voting rights and the highest percentage of voting rights in comparison to other shareholders. Some of

4920-399: A receiver, it runs the risk of the receiver incorrectly interpreting the message. Therefore, a brand should use appropriate communication channels to positively "…affect how the psychological and physical aspects of a brand are perceived". In order for brands to effectively communicate to customers, marketers must "…consider all touch point |s, or sources of contact, that a customer has with

5084-470: A remake of Final Fantasy Adventure . Also in 2000, Mizuno founded AlphaDream , engaging Fujioka and going on to develop the Mario & Luigi series. Staff members from Square Pictures, including The Spirits Within co-director Motonori Sakakibara, established Sprite Animation Studios in 2002. After his resignation from Square, Takechi founded music label Dreamusic in 2001 with Kazunaga Nitta. Mitsuda founded

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5248-510: A stake in Bushido Blade developer Lightweight , founded in 1995. It sold that stake to software company Forside in 1999. Front Mission developers G-Craft were initially independent, developing the original Front Mission with Square collaborating through their Solid subsidiary and acting as publisher. Square bought out G-Craft and incorporated it in 1997 during production of Front Mission 2 . Other affiliates associated with Square between

5412-491: A state of low morale. In late 2001, Suzuki stepped down as President, and was replaced by Wada. Yosuke Matsuda became Senior Vice President. Kenji Ito also left during this period to work as a freelance composer. Prior to the film's release, rival company Enix was proposing merging with another game company to alleviate development costs, opening serious discussions with Square in 2000. Square's financial losses with The Spirits Within prompted Enix to halt discussions. Under Wada,

5576-603: A string of projects that Square produced exclusively for Nintendo consoles, including the portable Game Boy . In 1990, Square moved its offices to the Akasaka district, and then to Ebisu, Shibuya in 1992. In April 1991, Square merged with an identically-named dormant company in order to change its share prices. As a result of the merger, Square's foundation was backdated to the other company's July 1966 founding date. At that time, Square drew some of its development funding from loans from Shikoku Bank. Due to increasing development costs,

5740-541: A subsidiary called Solid and focusing their work on cooperating with external developers. In 1995, Square established DreamFactory as an affiliate studio, which developed fighting-based titles for the PlayStation and PS2. DreamFactory became an independent company in 2001 after Square transferred their shares. Square later founded subsidiary Escape in March 1998 with DreamFactory staff. It only produced Driving Emotion Type-S (2000) before being liquidated in 2003. The company held

5904-414: A trademark from the late 1870s, with great success. Pears' soap , Campbell's soup , Coca-Cola , Juicy Fruit chewing gum and Aunt Jemima pancake mix were also among the first products to be "branded" in an effort to increase the consumer's familiarity with the product's merits. Other brands which date from that era, such as Ben's Original rice and Kellogg's breakfast cereal, furnish illustrations of

6068-407: A trademark in the form of a 'White Rabbit", which signified good luck and was particularly relevant to women, who were the primary purchasers. Details in the image show a white rabbit crushing herbs, and text includes advice to shoppers to look for the stone white rabbit in front of the maker's shop. In ancient Rome , a commercial brand or inscription applied to objects offered for sale was known as

6232-509: A visual or verbal cue. For example, when looking to satisfy a category need such as a toilet paper, the customer would firstly be presented with multiple brands to choose from. Once the customer is visually or verbally faced with a brand, they may remember being introduced to it before. When given a cue, consumers able to retrieve the memory node associated with the brand exhibit brand recognition. Often, this form of brand awareness assists customers in choosing one brand over another when faced with

6396-563: A war-torn African nation. The Death Trap was the first game published under the Square brand. Its sequel, Will: The Death Trap II , was released the following year to commercial success. Many of Square's early titles were produced for PC devices, and focused on the action genre. In 1985, the company negotiated a licensing agreement with Nintendo to develop titles for the Famicom ( Nintendo Entertainment System ). The company shifted to developing for

6560-616: A writer and later director, artist Tetsuya Nomura began as a graphic designer, and Tetsuya Takahashi and Kaori Tanaka were both artists and writers. Takashi Tokita became a full-time employee at the company, and Hiroyuki Ito began his work as a game designer. Chihiro Fujioka worked on several projects including co-directing Super Mario RPG . Kenichi Nishi worked in minor roles on Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG . Masato Kato , who joined in 1993, became scenario writer for Chrono Trigger . Artist Yusuke Naora first worked on Final Fantasy VI . Kazushige Nojima , known for his work on

6724-413: Is a brand's personality . Quite literally, one can easily describe a successful brand identity as if it were a person. This form of brand identity has proven to be the most advantageous in maintaining long-lasting relationships with consumers, as it gives them a sense of personal interaction with the brand Collectively, all four forms of brand identification help to deliver a powerful meaning behind what

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6888-420: Is a collection of individual components, such as a name, a design, a set of images, a slogan, a vision, writing style, a particular font or a symbol etc. which sets the brand aside from others. For a company to exude a strong sense of brand identity, it must have an in-depth understanding of its target market, competitors and the surrounding business environment. Brand identity includes both the core identity and

7052-403: Is a fundamental asset to a brand's equity , the worth of a brand's identity would become obsolete without ongoing brand communication. Integrated marketing communications (IMC) relates to how a brand transmits a clear consistent message to its stakeholders . Five key components comprise IMC: The effectiveness of a brand's communication is determined by how accurately the customer perceives

7216-446: Is a higher chance that the interests of the two off-spring not employed in the family business may be different from the interests of the two who are employed in the business. Their potential for differences does not mean that the interests cannot be aligned, it just means that there is a greater need for the four owners to have a system in place that differences can be identified and balanced. There appear to be two main factors affecting

7380-469: Is a precondition to purchasing. That is, customers will not consider a brand if they are not aware of it. Brand awareness is a key component in understanding the effectiveness both of a brand's identity and of its communication methods. Successful brands are those that consistently generate a high level of brand awareness, as this can be the pivotal factor in securing customer transactions. Various forms of brand awareness can be identified. Each form reflects

7544-410: Is a relatively new approach [Phelps et al., 2004] identified to communicate with consumers. One popular method of eWOM involves social networking sites (SNSs) such as Twitter . A study found that consumers classed their relationship with a brand as closer if that brand was active on a specific social media site (Twitter). Research further found that the more consumers "retweeted" and communicated with

7708-520: Is fine, as long as they continue to be managed by people who are steeped in the traditions, or at least able to adapt to them. Often family members can benefit from involving more than one professional advisor, each having the particular skill set needed by the family. Some of the skill sets that might be needed include communication, conflict resolution , family systems, finance, legal, accounting, insurance, investing, leadership development, management development, and strategic planning . Ownership in

7872-404: Is made public about financial performance. Ownership may be distributed through trusts or holding companies, and family members themselves may not be fully informed about the ownership structure of their enterprise. However, as the 21st-century global economic model replaces the old industrial model, government policy makers, economists, and academics turn to entrepreneurial and family enterprises as

8036-421: Is often little to differentiate between several types of products in the 21st century, hence branding is among a few remaining forms of product differentiation . Brand equity is the measurable totality of a brand's worth and is validated by observing the effectiveness of these branding components. When a customer is familiar with a brand or favors it incomparably over its competitors, a corporation has reached

8200-465: Is often used to show the three principal roles in a family-owned or -controlled organization: Family, Ownership and Management. This model shows how the roles may overlap. Everyone in the family (in all generations) obviously belongs to the Family circle, but some family members will never own shares in the family business, or ever work there. A family member is concerned with social capital (reputation within

8364-442: Is one of the initial phases of brand awareness and validates whether or not a customer remembers being pre-exposed to the brand. Brand recognition (also known as aided brand recall ) refers to consumers' ability to correctly differentiate a brand when they come into contact with it. This does not necessarily require consumers to identify or recall the brand name. When customers experience brand recognition, they are triggered by either

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8528-406: Is stronger than brand recognition, as the brand must be firmly cemented in the consumer's memory to enable unassisted remembrance. This gives the company huge advantage over its competitors because the customer is already willing to buy or at least know the company offering available in the market. Thus, brand recall is a confirmation that previous branding touchpoints have successfully fermented in

8692-488: Is that family, ownership, and business roles involve different and sometimes conflicting values, goals, and actions. For example, family members put a high priority on emotional capital—the family success that unites them through consecutive generations. Executives in the business are concerned about strategy and social capital—the reputation of their firm in the marketplace. Owners are interested in financial capital—performance in terms of wealth creation. A three-circles model

8856-564: Is the herbal paste known as chyawanprash , consumed for its purported health benefits and attributed to a revered rishi (or seer) named Chyawan. One well-documented early example of a highly developed brand is that of White Rabbit sewing needles, dating from China's Song dynasty (960 to 1127 CE). A copper printing plate used to print posters contained a message which roughly translates as: "Jinan Liu's Fine Needle Shop: We buy high-quality steel rods and make fine-quality needles, to be ready for use at home in no time." The plate also includes

9020-435: Is to recognise the issues that they face, understand how to develop strategies to address them and more importantly, to create narratives, or family stories that explain the emotional dimension of the issues to the family. The most intractable family business issues are not the business problems the organisation faces, but the emotional issues that compound them. Many years of achievement through generations can be destroyed by

9184-659: The Dragon Quest series. Following the success of Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts , negotiations resumed and the merger went ahead on April 1, 2003, forming Square Enix . Square was initially established in September 1983 as a software subsidiary of Den-Yu-Sha, an electric power conglomerate led by Kuniichi Miyamoto. His son Masafumi Miyamoto , then a part-time employee of the Science and Technology Department at Keio University , had little interest in following his father into

9348-887: The Forbes 400 richest Americans, 44% of the Forbes 400 member fortunes were derived by being a member of or in association with a family business. The economic prevalence and importance of this kind of business are often underestimated. Throughout most of the 20th century, academics and economists were intrigued by a newer, “improved” model: large publicly traded companies run in an apparently rational, bureaucratic manner by well trained “organization men.” Entrepreneurial and family firms, with their specific management models and complicated psychological processes, often fell short by comparison. Privately owned or family-controlled enterprises are not always easy to study. In many cases, they are not subject to financial reporting requirements, and little information

9512-486: The Glory of Heracles series, joined as a scenario writer. Future director Motomu Toriyama , who had no experience with game development, began as a scenario writer. In 1993, Square struck a deal with G-Craft to release Front Mission , one of their first major games to be developed by a third party. Square also hired additional music staff. Kenji Ito contributed to both the SaGa and Mana series. Hiroki Kikuta worked on

9676-489: The Mario -themed Super Mario RPG co-produced with Nintendo. Reflecting on this period, Sakaguchi noted that Final Fantasy was the company's most recognized property, while celebrating the fact that the company would still be profitable on the merits of their other successful game series. Additional staff joined Square by the early 1990s, inspired by the successful Final Fantasy series, with several first working on Final Fantasy IV (1991), Yoshinori Kitase acted as

9840-782: The Shadow Hearts series; he left Sacnoth in 1999 following the release of his project Koudelka and founded the music label Nostrilia. Several Xenogears developers, including Takahashi and Tanaka, founded Monolith Soft in 1999 in order to pursue projects outside the Final Fantasy series, developing more games using the Xeno prefix; it would eventually be more well known for the Xenoblade Chronicles series with Nintendo. Kameoka and other developers who worked on Legend of Mana (1999) founded Brownie Brown in 2000. Brownie Brown later worked with Square Enix on Sword of Mana (2003),

10004-446: The Final Fantasy series. Miyamoto stepped down as Square's President in 1991 while remaining a major shareholder, and was replaced by Tetsuo Mizuno. In 1991, Suzuki became Vice President. As Final Fantasy became a featured property for the company, Square produced additional projects that became successful series of their own. The Japan-exclusive real-time strategy series Hanjuku Hero , which began in 1988, parodied conventions of

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10168-576: The GameCube in late 2001. Square also began production on Final Fantasy X-2 , the first direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game. Final Fantasy X-2 was Sakaguchi's last credited project at Square, and he left the company in 2003. Around this time, Square also began development on Kingdom Hearts (2002), with Nomura making his directorial debut. The game was a collaboration between Square and The Walt Disney Company , blending Disney characters with Final Fantasy elements in an original story. Kingdom Hearts

10332-610: The Mana series and standalone projects. Yasunori Mitsuda started as a sound designer and was lauded for his work on the Chrono series. Yoko Shimomura , formerly a Capcom composer, did her first work on Live A Live (1994). In 1995, Square moved its headquarters to the Shimomeguro district in Meguro . Following the release of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger , Square staff began planning

10496-467: The PlayStation 2 launch title X-Squad . In March 31, 2003, coinciding with the Square Enix merger, both ventures were dissolved, with each partner buying the other's shares. In its February press release, Square described the joint-venture as a success. The Square side of the venture was rebranded under the Square Enix name. Between 1986 and 1988, Square led a collective of game developers dedicated to

10660-761: The Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE); large numbers of seals survive from the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley (3,300–1,300 BCE) where the local community depended heavily on trade; cylinder seals came into use in Ur in Mesopotamia in around 3,000 BCE, and facilitated the labelling of goods and property; and the use of maker's marks on pottery was commonplace in both ancient Greece and Rome. Identity marks, such as stamps on ceramics, were also used in ancient Egypt. Diana Twede has argued that

10824-474: The "consumer packaging functions of protection, utility and communication have been necessary whenever packages were the object of transactions". She has shown that amphorae used in Mediterranean trade between 1,500 and 500 BCE exhibited a wide variety of shapes and markings, which consumers used to glean information about the type of goods and the quality. The systematic use of stamped labels dates from around

10988-478: The "cool" factor. This began the modern practice now known as branding , where the consumers buy the brand instead of the product and rely on the brand name instead of a retailer's recommendation. The process of giving a brand "human" characteristics represented, at least in part, a response to consumer concerns about mass-produced goods. The Quaker Oats Company began using the image of the Quaker Man in place of

11152-400: The "…potential to add positive – or suppress negative – associations to the brand's equity" Thus, a brand's IMC should cohesively deliver positive messages through appropriate touch points associated with its target market. One methodology involves using sensory stimuli touch points to activate customer emotion. For example, if a brand consistently uses a pleasant smell as a primary touchpoint,

11316-504: The 1990s to develop for Sony Computer Entertainment 's upcoming console PlayStation . Their first major project for the console, Final Fantasy VII , was a worldwide critical and commercial success and was credited with boosting the popularity of role-playing video games and the PlayStation outside Japan. Alongside the Final Fantasy series, the company developed and published several other notable series, including SaGa , Mana , Front Mission , Chrono and Kingdom Hearts . Over

11480-443: The 1997-established Square Pictures studio on a Final Fantasy feature film. Titled Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within , it was planned as Sakaguchi's first push towards cross-media storytelling; however, the project ran over budget and ended up costing Square and co-producer Columbia Pictures US$ 137 million. Upon its release in 2001, The Spirits Within was met with mixed critical reception, and grossed only $ 85 million. Labeled as

11644-510: The 1st century CE. The use of hallmarks , a type of brand, on precious metals dates to around the 4th century CE. A series of five marks occurs on Byzantine silver dating from this period. Some of the earliest use of maker's marks, dating to about 1,300 BCE, have been found in India. The oldest generic brand in continuous use, known in India since the Vedic period ( c.  1100 BCE to 500 BCE),

11808-606: The 6th century BCE. A vase manufactured around 490 BCE bears the inscription " Sophilos painted me", indicating that the object was both fabricated and painted by a single potter. Branding may have been necessary to support the extensive trade in such pots. For example, 3rd-century Gaulish pots bearing the names of well-known potters and the place of manufacture (such as Attianus of Lezoux , Tetturo of Lezoux and Cinnamus of Vichy ) have been found as far away as Essex and Hadrian's Wall in England. English potters based at Colchester and Chichester used stamps on their ceramic wares by

11972-532: The Famicom to benefit from its stable hardware, compared to the constantly changing components of PCs. Square's first Famicom release was a port of the run and gun game Thexder (1985), and its first original game was the scrolling shooter King's Knight (1986). During this period, the team also hired new developers Akitoshi Kawazu and Koichi Ishii , artist Kazuko Shibuya , Iranian-American programmer Nasir Gebelli , and composer Nobuo Uematsu . Yusuke Hirata joined that year as sales manager, and later became

12136-562: The Game Boy in 1991. Ishii went on to develop additional Seiken Densetsu titles, released outside of Japan as the Mana series. A famous game from the period was Chrono Trigger , born from a collaboration between Sakaguchi, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii , and Dragon Ball artist Akira Toriyama . Among other standalone titles were the Western-exclusive Secret of Evermore , and

12300-524: The Medieval period. British silversmiths introduced hallmarks for silver in 1300. Some brands still in existence as of 2018 date from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries' period of mass-production. Bass Brewery , the British brewery founded in 1777, became a pioneer in international brand marketing. Many years before 1855, Bass applied a red triangle to casks of its pale ale. In 1876, its red-triangle brand became

12464-594: The PlayStation's lifecycle, Square continued to support the console with multiple releases, such as Threads of Fate (1999) and Vagrant Story (2000). The company also began work on PlayOnline , a digital storefront and a platform for online game services and web content. During the late 1990s, Square launched an initiative to give teams of younger staff members a chance to create experimental titles on smaller budgets. Among such titles were Xenogears , Soukaigi , and Another Mind . Around this time, several staff members departed Square due to creative differences or

12628-516: The RPG genre. Kawazu helmed an RPG project for the Game Boy. Released in 1989, Makai Toushi SaGa ( The Final Fantasy Legend ) spawned the SaGa series, which Kawazu would continue to be involved over the years. After the release of Final Fantasy III (1990), Ishii was offered the chance to create his own game, leading to the production of Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden ( Final Fantasy Adventure ) for

12792-436: The Square Enix merger, though it declared bankruptcy in 2004 after years of declining sales. In 1999, Square created a number of subsidiaries with dedicated roles: Square Visual Works to focus on producing CGI animation, Square Sounds for music and sound effects, Squartz for quality control and user support, and Square Next to support smaller game projects. Following the success of Final Fantasy VII in 1997, Sakaguchi founded

12956-559: The West. As Square moved its projects to PlayStation in 1994, SquareSoft moved to Marina del Rey, California, while changing its name twice in one year, to Square LA followed by Square USA. Square USA would notably develop Secret of Evermore . In 1997, a second Square USA branch was opened in Honolulu , Hawaii to focus on new interactive entertainment research, going on to help with CGI development on Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy IX . Square Europe

13120-400: The additional planning task of balancing family and business demands. There are five critical issues where the needs of the family and the demands of the business overlap—and require parallel planning action to ensure that business success does not create a family or business disaster. Fairness is a fundamental issue in family business decision-making. Solutions that are perceived as fair by

13284-476: The atrium, and bearing labels as follows: Scaurus' fish sauce was known by people across the Mediterranean to be of very high quality, and its reputation traveled as far away as modern France. In both Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum, archaeological evidence also points to evidence of branding and labeling in relatively common use across a broad range of goods. Wine jars, for example, were stamped with names, such as "Lassius" and "L. Eumachius"; probably references to

13448-679: The bank sent Tomoyuki Takechi on secondment to be their office manager in 1990. Takechi's secondment lasted until 1994, by which time Square had annual sales worth ¥16 million per year. In August of that year, Square registered with the Japan Securities Dealers Association to offer shares for public purchase. Sakaguchi was by now a prominent figure within the company, and was promoted to Executive President in 1991. His increasing corporate involvement lessened his creative input, prompting him to give greater influence to other staff. Gebelli left Square in 1993, retiring on royalties from

13612-515: The barrels used, effectively using a corporate trademark as a quasi-brand. Factories established following the Industrial Revolution introduced mass-produced goods and needed to sell their products to a wider market—that is, to customers previously familiar only with locally produced goods. It became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products. Packaged-goods manufacturers needed to convince

13776-427: The beginnings of brand management. This trend continued to the 1980s, and as of 2018 is quantified by marketers in concepts such as brand value and brand equity . Naomi Klein has described this development as "brand equity mania". In 1988, for example, Philip Morris Companies purchased Kraft Foods Inc. for six times what the company was worth on paper. Business analysts reported that what they really purchased

13940-532: The best idea. Sakaguchi proposed making a role-playing video game (RPG), believing it to be a viable project after the success of Enix 's Dragon Quest (1986). While skeptical, Miyamoto allowed production of the RPG on the condition it only had a five-person team. Sakaguchi led development, bringing in Gebelli, Kawazu, Ishii, and Uematsu. Production of the game, eventually called Final Fantasy , proceeded in "fits and starts". Sakaguchi eventually received help from

14104-401: The brand and is termed the consumer's brand experience . The brand is often intended to create an emotional response and recognition, leading to potential loyalty and repeat purchases. The brand experience is a brand's action perceived by a person. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image , is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people, consisting of all

14268-412: The brand has a much higher chance of creating a positive lasting effect on its customers' senses as well as memory. Another way a brand can ensure that it is utilizing the best communication channel is by focusing on touchpoints that suit particular areas associated with customer experience . As suggested Figure 2, certain touch points link with a specific stage in customer-brand-involvement. For example,

14432-413: The brand or on the basis of the reputation of the brand owner. Brand awareness involves a customer's ability to recall and/or recognize brands, logos, and branded advertising. Brands help customers to understand which brands or products belong to which product or service category. Brands assist customers to understand the constellation of benefits offered by individual brands, and how a given brand within

14596-425: The brand". Touch points represent the channel stage in the traditional communication model, where a message travels from the sender to the receiver. Any point where a customer has an interaction with the brand - whether watching a television advertisement, hearing about a brand through word of mouth or even noticing a branded license plate – defines a touchpoint. According to Dahlen et al. (2010), every touchpoint has

14760-400: The brand's intended message through its IMC. Although IMC is a broad strategic concept, the most crucial brand communication elements are pinpointed to how the brand sends a message and what touch points the brand uses to connect with its customers [Chitty 2005]. One can analyze the traditional communication model into several consecutive steps: When a brand communicates a brand identity to

14924-509: The brand, he or she is more likely to try other products offered by the company – such as chocolate-chip cookies, for example. Brand development, often performed by a design team , takes time to produce. A brand name is the part of a brand that can be spoken or written and identifies a product, service or company and sets it apart from other comparable products within a category. A brand name may include words, phrases, signs, symbols, designs, or any combination of these elements. For consumers,

15088-455: The brand. In 2012 Riefler stated that if the company communicating a brand is a global organization or has future global aims, that company should look to employ a method of communication that is globally appealing to their consumers, and subsequently choose a method of communication with will be internationally understood. One way a company can do this involves choosing a product or service's brand name, as this name will need to be suitable for

15252-466: The business requires those to stay competitive, the interests of the entire family and the business are not aligned. Nepotism has been listed as a problem with family businesses. Forbes writes that "nepotism in family businesses is a phenomenon that has been present for centuries" and that it is "prevalent" in such businesses. Nepotism-based favouritism contributes to a poorer workplace atmosphere and tension, which can impact worker contributions to

15416-451: The business. Involving someone else to manage the company requires the founder to be more conscious and formal in balancing personal interests with the interests of the business because they can no longer do this alignment automatically—someone else is involved. The second situation is when more than one person owns the business and no single person has the power and support of the other owners to determine collective interests. For example, if

15580-519: The community), dividends, and family unity. The Ownership circle may include family members, investors and/or employee-owners. An owner is concerned with financial capital (business performance and dividends). The Management circle typically includes non-family members who are employed by the family business. Family members may also be employees. An employee is concerned with social capital (reputation), emotional capital (career opportunities, bonuses and fair performance measures). A few people—for example,

15744-502: The company to "never come back". In 1996, Square's final project with Nintendo was Sting Entertainment ' s Treasure Hunter G for the Super Famicom, while the company debuted DreamFactory 's Tobal No. 1 for the PlayStation that same year. Soon after, the company signed a licensing agreement with Sony, who gained the exclusive right to publish Square's next six games in the West. Square continued work on Final Fantasy VII , with Kitase as director, Naora as art director, Nomura as

15908-435: The company underwent restructuring with the intent of streamlining production and resources, and cutting development costs to increase profits. After evaluation of its financial position, and with changes to the console war due to Microsoft's Xbox , Square opened talks with Nintendo for the first time since their breakup in the 1990s. The talks were successful, with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles beginning development for

16072-477: The company was divided into eight development divisions, with two based in Osaka. In 1998, the old development divisions were restructured into Production Departments, and the Osaka branch was closed down. The system was reshuffled again in 2002 to promote "greater understanding", and allow for reassignment between divisions. Among the heads of divisions at this time were Kitase, Kawazu, Tanaka, Matsuno and Hirata. Following

16236-494: The company's publicity manager. In April 1986, Square moved into new offices based in Ginza , noted as one of the most expensive areas for companies to operate; Sakaguchi later speculated Miyamoto was hoping to attract business by appearing affluent. Square was re-established as an independent developer in September of that year with capital of ¥ 10 million, buying the original Square gaming division from Den-Yu-Sha in December. Sakaguchi

16400-404: The completion of Crystal Chronicles , first renamed to SQEX Corporation and eventually dissolved entirely in 2010. Square Sounds was dissolved into the main company in March 2002 as an internal division, a move attributed to cost cutting. All the other subsidiaries were folded into Square Enix during the merger, with Visual Works becoming its own dedicated department. On May 1, 1998, Square formed

16564-501: The consumer through branding. Producers began by attaching simple stone seals to products which, over time, gave way to clay seals bearing impressed images, often associated with the producer's personal identity thus giving the product a personality. Not all historians agree that these markings are comparable with modern brands or labels, with some suggesting that the early pictorial brands or simple thumbprints used in pottery should be termed proto-brands while other historians argue that

16728-433: The development of family business and succession process: the size of the family, in relative terms the volume of business, and suitability to lead the organization, in terms of managerial ability, technical and commitment. Arieu proposed a model in order to classify family firms into four scenarios: political, openness, foreign management and natural succession . Potential successors who had professional experience outside

16892-424: The differing interests of family members and/or the interests of one or more family members on the one hand and the interests of the business on the other hand require the people involved to have the competencies, character and commitment to do this work. Family-owned companies present special challenges to those who run them. They can be quirky, developing unique cultures and procedures as they grow and mature. That

17056-740: The early 1990s to 2000 were font company Kusanagi, and developers Positron and Luciola. In 2002, Ogre Battle developer Quest Corporation withdrew from game development and was bought by Square. Absorbed and repurposed into a production division, their first project was Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003). Many Square employees went on to found notable development studios and other ventures. Nishi founded Love-de-Lic in 1995, producing three games including Moon: Remix RPG Adventure . Love-de-Lic staff went on to found other small studios including Skip Ltd. ( Chibi-Robo! ), and Punchline ( Rule of Rose ). Frustrated with Square's rigid hierarchy, Kikuta founded Sacnoth in 1997, which would become known for

17220-536: The electricity business. Miyamoto instead became a software developer at the Yokohama branch of Den-Yu-Sha in Hiyoshi , with a focus on the emerging video game market. Their original offices were based in a former hairdresser's salon. The company's name referred to a golfing term, and represented its aim to face challenges head-on. It also referenced a town square , emphasizing a production environment based on cooperation. At

17384-516: The environment by associating with the brand. Aside from attributes and benefits, a brand's identity may also involve branding to focus on representing its core set of values . If a company is seen to symbolize specific values, it will, in turn, attract customers who also believe in these values. For example, Nike's brand represents the value of a " just do it " attitude. Thus, this form of brand identification attracts customers who also share this same value. Even more extensive than its perceived values

17548-414: The extended identity. The core identity reflects consistent long-term associations with the brand; whereas the extended identity involves the intricate details of the brand that help generate a constant motif. According to Kotler et al. (2009), a brand's identity may deliver four levels of meaning: A brand's attributes are a set of labels with which the corporation wishes to be associated. For example,

17712-414: The family and business stakeholders are more likely to be accepted and supported. Fair process helps create organizational justice by engaging family members, whether as owners and employees, in a series of practical steps to address and resolve critical issues. Fair process lays a foundation for continued family participation over generations. The challenge faced by family businesses and their stakeholders,

17876-409: The family business is basically owned and operated by one person, that person usually does the necessary balancing automatically. For example, the founder may decide the business needs to build a new plant and take less money out of the business for a period so the business can accumulate cash needed to expand. In making this decision, the founder is balancing his personal interests (taking cash out) with

18040-436: The family business may decide to leave the firm to found a new one, either with or without the support of the family. Instead, successors tend to be characterized by professional experience only within the family business. The education of potential successors is a critical issue in the succession process because it affects the endowment of managerial capabilities of the firm. If the succession process has been planned in advance,

18204-428: The family enterprise. However, family participation as managers and/or owners of a business can present unique problems because the dynamics of the family system and the dynamics of the business systems are often not in balance. The interests of the entire family may not be balanced with the interests of their business. For example, if a family needs its business to distribute funds for living expenses and retirement, but

18368-447: The family. However, family members are often involved in the operations of their family business in some capacity and, in smaller companies, usually one or more family members are the senior officers and managers. In India, many businesses that are now public companies were once family businesses. Family participation as managers and/or owners of a business can strengthen the company because family members are often loyal and dedicated to

18532-415: The family. It is a useful tool for spotting relationship patterns across generations, and decrypting seemingly irrational behavior. Family myths—sets of beliefs that are shared by the family members—can play important defensive and protective roles in families. Myths help people cope with stress and anxiety and, by prescribing ritualistic behavior patterns, will enable them to establish a common front against

18696-568: The firm through leadership or ownership. Owner-manager entrepreneurial firms are not considered to be family businesses because they lack the multi-generational dimension and family influence that create the unique dynamics and relationships of family businesses. A family business is the oldest and most common model of economic organization. The vast majority of businesses throughout the world—from corner shops to multinational publicly listed organizations with hundreds of thousands of employees—can be considered as family businesses. Based on research of

18860-426: The first registered trademark issued by the British government. Guinness World Records recognizes Tate & Lyle (of Lyle's Golden Syrup ) as Britain's, and the world's, oldest branding and packaging, with its green-and-gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. Twinings tea has used the same logo – capitalized font beneath a lion crest – since 1787, making it

19024-469: The founder or a senior family member—may hold all three roles: family member, owner and employee. These individuals are intensely connected to the family business, and concerned with any or all of the above sources of value creation. A genogram is an organization chart for the family. It is an enhanced family tree that shows not only family events like births and deaths, but also indicates the relationships (close, conflicted, cut-off, etc.) among individuals in

19188-642: The fourth century BCE. In largely pre-literate society, the shape of the amphora and its pictorial markings conveyed information about the contents, region of origin and even the identity of the producer, which were understood to convey information about product quality. David Wengrow has argued that branding became necessary following the urban revolution in ancient Mesopotamia in the 4th century BCE, when large-scale economies started mass-producing commodities such as alcoholic drinks, cosmetics and textiles. These ancient societies imposed strict forms of quality-control over commodities, and also needed to convey value to

19352-419: The incumbent and successor usually show higher levels of satisfaction. Particularly important is the incumbent’s willingness to step down. The incumbent gradually gives away his power to the successor. This happens step by step and may take several years. Such a transfer of power can take the form of the incumbent providing the successor with entrepreneurial resources that foster the firm's innovation. Eventually,

19516-436: The information and expectations associated with a product, with a service, or with the companies providing them. Marketers or product managers that responsible for branding, seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics, which make it special or unique. A brand can, therefore, become one of

19680-434: The introduction of voice acting with games including Final Fantasy X . Notable localization staff included Kaoru Moriyama, Ted Woolsey , Michael Basket, Richard Honeywood , and Alexander O. Smith . Many Square titles remained exclusive to Japan, for reasons including design complexities, low graphical quality, and technical difficulties. In the 1990s, Square's first six PlayStation releases were published by Sony as part of

19844-430: The literature on branding suggests that consumers prefer brands with personalities that are congruent with their own. Consumers may distinguish the psychological aspect (brand associations like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand) of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with

20008-419: The logo for go.com . Unlike brand recognition, brand recall (also known as unaided brand recall or spontaneous brand recall ) is the ability of the customer retrieving the brand correctly from memory. Rather than being given a choice of multiple brands to satisfy a need, consumers are faced with a need first, and then must recall a brand from their memory to satisfy that need. This level of brand awareness

20172-473: The market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Gradually, manufacturers began using personal identifiers to differentiate their goods from generic products on the market. Marketers generally began to realize that brands, to which personalities were attached, outsold rival brands. By the 1880s, large manufacturers had learned to imbue their brands' identity with personality traits such as youthfulness, fun, sex appeal, luxury or

20336-540: The marketplace that it aims to enter. It is important that if a company wishes to develop a global market, the company name will also need to be suitable in different cultures and not cause offense or be misunderstood. When communicating a brand, a company needs to be aware that they must not just visually communicate their brand message and should take advantage of portraying their message through multi-sensory information. One article suggests that other senses, apart from vision, need to be targeted when trying to communicate

20500-538: The merger with Enix, the eight divisions were incorporated into the new company, with two additional divisions brought in from Enix. Square self-published the majority of its games in Japan, and sporadically acted as a publisher for third-party developers. By contrast, their Western presence during the 80s and early 90s was small. RPGs were not popular in the North American market at that time, and Square's presence in Europe

20664-400: The minds of its consumers. Marketing-mix modeling can help marketing leaders optimize how they spend marketing budgets to maximize the impact on brand awareness or on sales. Managing brands for value creation will often involve applying marketing-mix modeling techniques in conjunction with brand valuation . Brands typically comprise various elements, such as: Although brand identity

20828-569: The modern era, the concept of branding has expanded to include deployment by a manager of the marketing and communication techniques and tools that help to distinguish a company or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting impression in the minds of customers . The key components that form a brand's toolbox include a brand's identity, personality, product design , brand communication (such as by logos and trademarks ), brand awareness , brand loyalty , and various branding ( brand management ) strategies. Many companies believe that there

20992-433: The most enduring campaigns of the 20th-century. Brand advertisers began to imbue goods and services with a personality, based on the insight that consumers searched for brands with personalities that matched their own. Effective branding, attached to strong brand values, can result in higher sales of not only one product, but of other products associated with that brand. If a customer loves Pillsbury biscuits and trusts

21156-579: The most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace . This means that building a strong brand helps to distinguish a product from similar ones and differentiate it from competitors. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management . The orientation of an entire organization towards its brand is called brand orientation . Brand orientation develops in response to market intelligence . Careful brand management seeks to make products or services relevant and meaningful to

21320-646: The music studio Procyon in 2001 so he could work while maintaining his health. After stepping down as president in 2001, Sakaguchi experienced a period of low morale before returning to game development, founding Mistwalker in 2004. The studio became known for the Blue Dragon and Terra Wars series, as well as stand-alone projects such as Lost Odyssey , The Last Story . and Fantasian , whose console and PC versions would eventually be published by Square Enix, making it Sakaguchi's first work with Square Enix in years. Brand name The practice of branding—in

21484-549: The name of the producer. The use of identity marks on products declined following the fall of the Roman Empire . In the European Middle Ages , heraldry developed a language of visual symbolism which would feed into the evolution of branding, and with the rise of the merchant guilds the use of marks resurfaced and was applied to specific types of goods. By the 13th century, the use of maker's marks had become evident on

21648-429: The needs of the business (expansion). The assets that are owned by the family, in most family businesses, are hard to separate from the assets that belong to the business. Balancing competing interests often become difficult in three situations. The first situation is when the founder wants to change the nature of their involvement in the business. Usually the founder begins this transition by involving others to manage

21812-469: The new company. Around 80% of Square's staff transitioned into Square Enix. Square's final release was the Japanese version of X-2 . During reports on the merger with Enix, Takashi Oya of Deutsche Securities contrasted Enix's tradition of outsourcing development versus Square's approach to developing "everything by itself". When Square was founded in the early 1980s, there was no set development structure, with

21976-469: The next entry in the Final Fantasy series, and entered the emerging 3D gaming market. With the production of Final Fantasy VII , Square decided to shift their projects to Sony Computer Entertainment 's new PlayStation console, prompted by the affordability of CD-ROM distribution, compared to Nintendo's continued use of expensive cartridges . This shift caused a long-standing rift between Square and Nintendo; one Square employee recalled Nintendo telling

22140-430: The next, if the family fails to address the psychological issues they face. Applying psychodynamic concepts will help to explain behaviour and will enable the family to prepare for life cycle transitions and other issues that may arise. Family-run organisations need a new understanding and a broader perspective on the human dynamics of family firms with two complementary frameworks, psychodynamic and family systematic. When

22304-436: The organisation. The interest of one family member may not be aligned with another family member. For example, a family member who is an owner may want to sell the business to maximize their return, but a family member who is an owner and also a manager may want to keep the company because it represents their career and they want their children to have the opportunity to work in the company. The challenge for business families

22468-421: The original literal sense of marking by burning—is thought to have begun with the ancient Egyptians , who are known to have engaged in livestock branding and branded slaves as early as 2,700 BCE. Branding was used to differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot branding iron . If a person stole any of the cattle, anyone else who saw

22632-400: The other team at Square led by Tanaka, which included Shibuya and newcomer debugger Hiroyuki Ito . Production on the game lasted roughly ten months. While shipments of 200,000 units were planned, Sakaguchi persuaded Square to double that number. Final Fantasy was released in 1987 to commercial success, selling over 400,000 copies in Japan. It saw greater sales success in North American when it

22796-467: The outside world. They provide a rationale for the way people behave, but because much of what makes up a family myth takes place deep beneath the surface, they also conceal the true issues, problems, and conflicts. Although these family myths can turn into a blueprint for family action, they can also turn into straitjackets, reducing a family's flexibility and capacity to respond to new situations. All businesses require planning, but business families face

22960-657: The practice of branding livestock to deter theft. Images of the branding of cattle occur in ancient Egyptian tombs dating to around 2,700 BCE. Over time, purchasers realized that the brand provided information about origin as well as about ownership, and could serve as a guide to quality. Branding was adapted by farmers, potters, and traders for use on other types of goods such as pottery and ceramics. Forms of branding or proto-branding emerged spontaneously and independently throughout Africa, Asia and Europe at different times, depending on local conditions. Seals , which acted as quasi-brands, have been found on early Chinese products of

23124-473: The presence of these simple markings does not imply that mature brand management practices operated. Scholarly studies have found evidence of branding, packaging, and labeling in antiquity. Archaeological evidence of potters' stamps has been found across the breadth of the Roman Empire and in ancient Greece . Stamps were used on bricks, pottery, and storage containers as well as on fine ceramics. Pottery marking had become commonplace in ancient Greece by

23288-513: The producer's name. Roman glassmakers branded their works, with the name of Ennion appearing most prominently. One merchant that made good use of the titulus pictus was Umbricius Scaurus, a manufacturer of fish sauce (also known as garum ) in Pompeii, c.  35 CE . Mosaic patterns in the atrium of his house feature images of amphorae bearing his personal brand and quality claims. The mosaic depicts four different amphora, one at each corner of

23452-485: The product, the consumer lifestyle, and the endorser is important for the effectiveness of brand communication. Family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family , related by blood , marriage or adoption , who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingness to use this ability to pursue distinctive goals. They are closely identified with

23616-605: The production of games for the Famicom Disk System. The Square-owned label, called Disk Original Group (DOG), included Square, HummingBirdSoft , System Sacom , Microcabin , Carry Lab, Thinking Rabbit , and Xtalsoft . This coalition was able to pool financial resources, allowing them to overcome the prohibitive costs of acting individually. The Famicom Disk System was rendered defunct by 1988 due to increased storage capacity in standard Famicom ROM cartridges. In January 1994, Square acquired developer Cobra Team, turning it into

23780-530: The successor gains all the authority and influence while the incumbent steps down, leaves to company completely, or remains as an advisor (Handler, 1990) . An international body called International Council for Family Business (ICFB) having professor Alain Ndedi as Board of Trustees chairman, is assisting worldwide the private sector and non for profit organisations (Universities, Foundations, etc) to develop effective and successful planning process. Successfully balancing

23944-550: The symbol could deduce the actual owner. The term has been extended to mean a strategic personality for a product or company, so that "brand" now suggests the values and promises that a consumer may perceive and buy into. Over time, the practice of branding objects extended to a broader range of packaging and goods offered for sale including oil , wine , cosmetics , and fish sauce and, in the 21st century, extends even further into services (such as legal , financial and medical ), political parties and people 's stage names. In

24108-504: The team saw popular success with the role-playing video game Final Fantasy in 1987, which would lead to the franchise of the same name being one of its tentpole franchises. Later notable staff included directors Yoshinori Kitase and Takashi Tokita , designer and writer Yasumi Matsuno , artists Tetsuya Nomura and Yusuke Naora , and composers Yoko Shimomura and Masashi Hamauzu . Initially developing for PCs, then exclusively for Nintendo systems, Square broke up with Nintendo in

24272-468: The ten-person staff freely shifting between roles and projects. This eventually evolved into two loosely-defined production groups, led by Sakaguchi and Tanaka, respectively. Following the release of Final Fantasy IV , Sakaguchi divided the production team, assigning different staff members to the Final Fantasy , SaGa and Mana series. A secondary studio was founded in Osaka in 1990, with Final Fantasy Legend III (1991) as their first project. By 1997,

24436-399: The time, video games in Japan were usually created by a single programmer. Miyamoto, on the other hand, believed that graphic designers, programmers, and professional story writers would be needed to keep up with advances in computing and video game development. During these early years, the group was compared to a family business ; one of the early hires, Shinichiro Kajitani, joined because he

24600-476: The trend. By the early 1900s, trade press publications, advertising agencies , and advertising experts began producing books and pamphlets exhorting manufacturers to bypass retailers and to advertise directly to consumers with strongly branded messages. Around 1900, advertising guru James Walter Thompson published a housing advertisement explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what scholars now recognize as modern branding and

24764-400: The way in which consumers had started to develop relationships with their brands in a social/psychological/anthropological sense. Advertisers began to use motivational research and consumer research to gather insights into consumer purchasing. Strong branded campaigns for Chrysler and Exxon /Esso, using insights drawn from research into psychology and cultural anthropology , led to some of

24928-413: The world's largest family-run businesses are Walmart (United States), Volkswagen Group (Germany), Samsung Group (Korea) and Tata Group (India). The "Global Family Business Index" comprises the largest 500 family firms around the globe. In this index—published for a first time in 2015 by Center for Family Business University of St. Gallen and EY —for a privately held firm, a firm is classified as

25092-417: The world's oldest in continuous use. A characteristic feature of 19th-century mass-marketing was the widespread use of branding, originating with the advent of packaged goods . Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap , from local communities to centralized factories . When shipping their items, the factories would literally brand their logo or company insignia on

25256-452: The years, many staff left to found studios such as Monolith Soft ( Xeno ), Sacnoth ( Shadow Hearts ), Mistwalker ( Fantasian ), and AlphaDream ( Mario & Luigi ). In 2001, the company saw financial troubles due to the commercial failure of the feature film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within , which ultimately led Sakaguchi to leave the company in 2003. The film's failure disrupted merger discussions with Enix , publisher of

25420-599: Was Shimomura's last project as an in-house composer before going freelance in 2002. Also released in 2002 was the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XI , the company's first MMORPG . Conceived by Sakaguchi, it was developed by the Chrono team and led by Ishii. Final Fantasy XI and its first expansion was Kato's last work for Square before leaving in 2002 to go freelance. Following the commercial success of Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts , Square and Enix resumed talks and agreed to merge their two companies. Wada described it as

25584-499: Was a friend of Miyamoto, and later compared the company at that time to a "college club". To recruit for this new organizational structure, Miyamoto organized a salon in Yokohama and offered jobs to those who demonstrated exceptional programming skills. This led to the part-time hiring of university students Hironobu Sakaguchi and Hiromichi Tanaka , as well as Hisashi Suzuki, who would go on to become Square's CEO. Miyamoto's initial plan

25748-510: Was appointed as a Director of Planning and Development, and Hisashi Suzuki became one of the company's directors. Due to the high cost of Ginza rents, the company was forced to move into smaller offices in Okachimachi, Taitō . Square began struggling financially following multiple commercial failures for Nintendo's Famicom Disk System peripheral. Miyamoto asked the company's four directors for game proposals, with plans to have their staff vote on

25912-658: Was founded in 1998 in London , England, focusing on publishing in Europe. A publishing brand called Aques was established by Square in 1996. The name was an anagram of Square's name, as well as an acronym for "Advanced QUality Entertainment and Sports", representing the company's diversification outside of role-playing games. That same year, Square established a distribution company called DigiCube , with convenience stores as their main strategy. The subdidiary expanded into book publishing, stocked games from other companies, and at one point published games under its own brand. DigiCube survived

26076-460: Was intended to strengthen Square's overseas connections and bring in technical and administrative support for future digital and online content. Alongside this, Yoichi Wada joined the company as a company director and eventually COO. In August 2000, Square was listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange 's first section, which includes the largest companies on the exchange. In addition to leading production on Final Fantasy IX (2000), Sakaguchi also worked at

26240-758: Was limited. The original Final Fantasy was published in North America in 1990 by Nintendo of America close to the launch of the Super Nintendo, resulting in its two sequels being passed over for localization at that time. After opening their North American offices, Square began publishing selected titles under the "SquareSoft" brand. One of their third-party North American releases was the original Breath of Fire by Capcom, who were busy enough to outsource publishing and localization to Square. The Redmond office later closed, with some localization staff choosing not to relocate to California. Square initially did not have an internal localization department, instead outsourcing to

26404-535: Was released in 1989, selling 700,000 copies. Two other Japanese successes from 1987 were Rad Racer and The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner . The success of Final Fantasy prompted development of Final Fantasy II (1988), which established many of the series recurring elements . This and four more Final Fantasy titles would appear on the Famicom and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom), culminating in Final Fantasy VI (1994). These were among

26568-408: Was shut down in 2002 following a failed attempt to find a film studio partner. In 2002, Square Next was rebranded as The Game Designer Studio, with ownership between Square's Product Development Division 2 and Kawazu. The aim was to allow for development of games for Nintendo consoles without impacting production on Sony platform games. The Game Designers Studio was absorbed back into Square Enix after

26732-435: Was the brand name. With the rise of mass media in the early 20th century, companies adopted techniques that allowed their messages to stand out. Slogans , mascots , and jingles began to appear on radio in the 1920s and in early television in the 1930s . Soap manufacturers sponsored many of the earliest radio drama series, and the genre became known as soap opera . By the 1940s, manufacturers began to recognize

26896-411: Was to recruit from Keio University, but this never materialized. Square's first attempt at a game was an adaptation of the television game show Torin-ingen . As Miyamoto had not secured the license to adapt it, the show's producers forced Square to cancel the game, prompting its team to be reshuffled. Square's first completed game was The Death Trap (1984) for NEC PC-8801 , a text adventure set in

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