The great lesson of the Internet revolution is not that people never want personal service, just that they won't pay for personal service that does not add real value to the transaction.

Every brand builder will face a million temptations to obscure, dilute, or confuse his or her brand message. These temptations fall under two general headings: boredom and the desire for growth.

Brand is everything, the stuff you want to communicate to consumers and the stuff you communicate despite yourself.

The real lesson Orville (Redenbacher) taught me was the power of a good brand to trump all rhyme or reason in the marketplace.

Good brands do three things for highly stressed out consumers: 1. They save time. 2. They project the right message. 3. They provide an identity.

The truth is the best brands, like the most interesting people, have a keen sense of self.

While the importance of a strong brand is widely understood, nothing is as misunderstood in American business as the question of how to use it.