If I were to admit one thing after decades in marketing, it was honestly that I vastly underestimated the impact of a brand across marketing efforts. While that may sound like a ridiculous statement, it’s because the nuance of crafting a brand or the incredible effort in adjusting the perception of a brand is far more difficult than I ever imagined. A brand is not just a logo, a tagline, or a product—it’s an intricate web of perceptions, emotions, and promises that a company weaves into the minds of its audience. It’s the story that customers tell themselves and others about what a company stands for, and it’s a living entity that evolves with every interaction.
So, What Exactly Is A Bbrand?
At its core, a brand is the identity of a business or product as perceived by its audience. It encompasses everything from visual elements like design and packaging to intangible qualities like reputation, values, and customer experience.
In this engaging video, the concept of a brand is explored as far more than just a product or logo—it’s the emotional and rational connection people feel toward a company, service, or product. Using examples like Nike, Volvo, Harley-Davidson, and Starbucks, the video illustrates how strong brands focus on a single, powerful idea (like safety, freedom, or community) to differentiate themselves and build lasting value. It highlights the shift from one-way brand messaging to a two-way conversation driven by today’s customers, emphasizing that brands are owned by those who experience them.
With insights into brand worth, like Coca-Cola’s brand accounting for 61% of its corporate value, the video offers practical tips for nurturing a brand: be different, vigilant, and relevant, while consistently earning customer trust.
To unpack this multifaceted concept, let’s explore its definition, evolution over time, and the critical role of trust and authenticity in its success, supported by insights from some of the most influential voices in business, marketing, and advertising.
Defining a Brand: More Than Just a Name
A brand is often misunderstood as merely a company’s name or logo, but it’s far more expansive.
Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.
Jeff Bezos, Founder, Amazon
This succinct definition highlights that a brand is not what a company claims it is, but rather the collective perception shaped by customers, employees, and the public. It’s the emotional and psychological relationship people have with a business.
A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.
Seth Godin, Marketer and Author
For Godin, a brand is a promise—a consistent signal that tells customers what to expect. Whether it’s Apple’s promise of innovation or Coca-Cola’s assurance of nostalgia and refreshment, successful brands continually deliver on that promise.
From an advertising perspective, the tangible value of branding stands out.
The goodwill of a brand is built over decades and is a priceless asset.
David Ogilvy, Founder, Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy understood that a brand is an investment, not just in marketing budgets but in trust and loyalty, which can pay dividends for generations.
The Evolution of Branding: From One-Way to Two-Way Communication
Historically, developing a brand was a one-way street. Companies crafted their identities through carefully controlled messaging—think print ads, billboards, and television commercials. Consumers were passive recipients, with little ability to respond or shape the narrative. Brands like Ford, Kodak, and General Electric dictated their image, and the public accepted it.
This dynamic shifted dramatically with the advent of the internet and social media. Suddenly, consumers gained a megaphone.
The power has shifted from brands to consumers. They now have the ability to talk back, and they expect you to listen.
Gary Vaynerchuk, Marketer and Author
Platforms like X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube transformed branding into a dialogue. Customers could praise a product’s strengths, call out its weaknesses, or highlight what sets it apart—all in real time.
Take Nike as an example. In the past, its Just Do It campaign was a top-down declaration of empowerment. Today, consumers on social media amplify that message by sharing their own stories of athletic triumph or openly criticize the brand when its actions don’t align with its values. This two-way interaction has made brands more accountable and dynamic than ever before.
Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, sometimes behind, but brand is simply a collective impression.
Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla and SpaceX
Musk’s direct engagement with customers on X—whether addressing complaints or teasing new products—demonstrates how modern branding thrives on transparency and responsiveness.
The Trust Gap: Authenticity as the Bedrock of Branding
While the web and social media have democratized branding, they’ve also exposed a critical vulnerability: the gap between a brand’s promise and its reality. Trust erodes when customers perceive a disconnect through inauthentic messaging, poor customer service, or unmet expectations.
A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company. If that gut feeling is wrong, you’ve lost them.
Marty Neumeier, Branding Expert and Author
This trust gap has been magnified in the digital age. Consumers now have access to reviews, behind-the-scenes leaks, and unfiltered opinions. If a brand claims to be sustainable but its supply chain tells a different story, customers will notice—and they’ll call it out.
In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign.
Howard Schultz, Former CEO, Starbucks
The backlash faced by brands like Pepsi during its 2017 Kendall Jenner ad—widely criticized as tone-deaf—illustrates the cost of inauthenticity. Conversely, brands like Patagonia thrive because their environmental activism aligns seamlessly with their messaging, earning them fierce loyalty.
Nothing is more powerful than the truth, and nothing is more persuasive than authenticity.
Bill Bernbach, Co-Founder, Doyle Dane Bernbach
The Cost of Lost Brand Credibility is Real
Over the past decade, several prominent brands have stumbled into crises that severely damaged their credibility and, in turn, their financial standing. Whether through outright deception, cultural missteps, or failure to adapt to shifting consumer expectations, these companies faced public backlash that translated into billions of dollars in lost market value. Below is an alphabetical list of ten such brands, each explaining how they lost credibility and the approximate market value losses they incurred during their respective crises.
Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light): A 2023 Dylan Mulvaney partnership backlash alienated customers, and the company lost approximately $27 billion in market cap from April to July 2023.
Boeing: Mishandled the 2019 737 MAX crashes due to design flaws, losing over $100 billion in market cap from March 2019 to March 2020.
Disney: Drew criticism for woke content and political stances from 2022–2025, losing $166 billion in market cap from 2021 to mid-2023, plus $900 million on films.
Facebook (Meta): Allowed misuse of user data in the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, dropping $119 billion in market value in a single day in July 2018.
Gillette (Procter & Gamble): The 2019 The Best Men Can Be campaign was criticized for being preachy, contributing to an $8 billion write-down in brand value.
Target: Lost conservative shoppers in 2023 over its Pride collection, dropping about $15 billion in market cap from May to June 2023.
Theranos: Collapsed after its fraudulent blood-testing tech was exposed in 2018, losing its entire $9 billion valuation as it dissolved.
Volkswagen: Deceived customers with emissions-cheating software in the 2015 Dieselgate scandal, losing about $33 billion in market value in late 2015.
Wells Fargo: Created millions of unauthorized accounts in 2016, eroding trust and losing roughly $20 billion in market cap weeks after the scandal broke.
NOTE: The issue wasn’t the stance these brands took, but rather that their actions opposed the brand identities they had carefully built, often over decades, leading to a profound disconnect with their audiences.
Takeaways for Companies Developing Their Brand
Building a brand today is a complex, ongoing process that requires intention, adaptability, and a deep connection with your audience. Based on the insights above, here are the key takeaways for companies looking to develop or refine their brand:
Define Your Promise Clearly: Articulate what your brand stands for and ensure every action reinforces that promise. Consistency builds trust, as Bezos and Godin suggest.
Listen to Your Audience: Embrace the two-way nature of modern branding. As Vaynerchuk advises, use social media and customer feedback to understand perceptions and adjust accordingly.
Invest in the Long Game: Like Ogilvy’s priceless asset, a strong brand takes time to build. Prioritize reputation over short-term gains.
Align Perception with Reality: Musk’s point about perception matching reality is critical—ensure your operations, products, and values reflect your messaging to avoid a trust gap.
Lead with Authenticity: Take Schultz’s and Bernbach’s advice to heart. Be genuine and transparent in your mission; customers can spot a fake a mile away.
Adapt to Feedback: The digital age demands agility. Use consumer input—positive or negative—to evolve your brand while staying true to its core.
Tell a Compelling Story: As Neumeier implies, a brand is an emotional connection. Craft a narrative that resonates and invites customers to participate.
Ultimately, a brand is a living, breathing entity shaped by the company and its community. It’s no longer enough to broadcast a message—today’s brands must engage, listen, and deliver. That’s the challenge and the opportunity I wish I’d grasped earlier in my marketing career.
©2025 DK New Media, LLC, All rights reserved | Disclosure
Originally Published on Martech Zone: What is a Brand?