As the economy moves away from manufacturing toward service, which it has been doing for 25 years now, the number of people who are actually making things decreases. Desks across America are filled with people whose jobs it is to make decisions and manage others. Sure, iPhones are being manufactured, and cars are being constructed. Sure, food is being processed, packaged, sold and served. But the number of companies doing it has decreased and the scale of those companies hugely expanded. It won’t be long before Wal-Mart has a house brand that takes over the world.
All these people at desks, tasked with making decisions along the chain of command and trying to add value, can create a leadership nightmare. Add to that the web offering up the ability for people to collapse the 4Ps into a single P (platform) and one can see why brands are becoming more and more important. Branding is an organizing principle for marketing.
The best brands are culture. The best brands lead companies. Strong brands show the way. And align the desks. If you have a strong brand get to know it. Peace!