Branding is everything - and I mean everything.

Advertising, if it is any good, should help to confirm what already is, not what should be.

For every grand and finely worded statement by the CEO, the brand is also defined by derisory consumer comments overheard in a hallway, or in a chat room on the Internet. Brands are sponges for content, for images, for fleeting feelings. They become psychological concepts held in the minds of the public, where they may stay forever. As such you can’t entirely control a brand. At best you can only guide and influence it.

Branding is everything - and I mean everything.

A great brand is a story that’s never completely told. A brand is a metaphorical story that connects with something very deep – a fundamental appreciation of mythology. Stories create the emotional context people need to locate themselves in a larger experience.

A great brand is a story that's never completely told.

The best brands never start out with the intent of building a great brand. They focus on building a great – and profitable – product or service and an organization that can sustain it.