What's a brand?

I'm always taken aback when clients and colleagues immediately default to "logo" when I talk about brand. I immediately reference this imagery, which is my consistent default for trying to help folks understand the difference between a logo...and a brand.

There are many definitions for what a brand really is but my long-time favorite is this one (paraphrased a bit) from Scott Bedbury, A New Brand World:

A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly and the off strategy. It is defined by your best product as well as your worst product. It is defined by award-winning campaigns as well as the god-awful ads that somehow slipped through the cracks, got approved and, not surprisingly, sank into oblivion. It is defined by the accomplishments of your best employee - the shining star in the company who can do no wrong - as well as the mishaps of the worst hire that you ever made. It is also defined by your receptionist or IVR system and the music your customers are subjected to when placed on hold. For every grand and finely worded public statement by the CEO, the brand is also defined by derisory public comments on product review sites or overhead in the hallway. Brands are sponges for content, for images, and 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.

Brands aren't controllable. But, to lack understanding as to what a brand is and how to guide it is to set the path toward failure.