In response to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)'s decision to establish a new technical committee (TC) focused on standardization activities related to brand evaluation, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has begun work to assess interest in the formation of a related U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG). As part of this outreach effort, ANSI will hold a webinar at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, August 11, 2014, to discuss the new TC and gauge interest in the creation of a U.S. TAG. Companies and organizations around the world depend on brands to communicate and enhance the value of their products, services, and activities to customers and other members of the public. But the field of branding and brand management is currently hampered by the use of a wide variety of redundant and competing terms, as well as by difficulties in effectively assessing the standing and trajectory of different brands. This new committee - ISO TC 289, Brand evaluation - will carry out much needed standardization work in this sector, including the development of standards setting down terminology and models for branding, and guidelines for both the auditing of internal branding elements and the assessment of brand strength using consumer responses. Future work on documents related to brand evaluation and other related topics is expected.
The Standardization Administration of China (SAC), the Chinese member body to ISO, has been assigned the secretariat of ISO TC 289 and has named the U.S.'s Bobby Calder, professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, as the committee's chair. ISO TC 289 currently has nine participating member nations and twenty-four observing member nations. The first meeting of ISO TC 289 is scheduled for September 25-26, 2014, in Beijing.
In order to ensure that U.S. interests in this area are being represented, a U.S. TAG would need to be formed. ANSI traditionally encourages the body that develops national standards in a given area to serve as the administrator of a new ANSI-accredited TAG to ISO; however, interested parties may request that ANSI serve as the TAG administrator, as long as the TAG is fully funded and ANSI's direct oversight of the TAG is supported by relevant industry sectors.
To learn more about ISO TC 289 and its proposed U.S. TAG, register online to take part in the August 11 webinar; all participants must register by Monday, August 4. To ask questions, or to express interest in participating on a U.S. TAG for ISO TC 289, or serving as the TAG administrator, email ANSI's Rachel Hawthorne at [email protected].