from the customer to the brand. But the relationship between brand and fan goes beyond information flow to become emotion flow. For example, Krispy Kreme evokes such intense emotions among its doughnut fans that even the most time-pressed consumers will stand in line to satisfy their physical and emotional cravings. But police offi- cers arent the only ones drooling at the sight of the now-famous green-and-white polka-dot box. Many financial analysts missed the ground floor of stocks of companies like Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart because they underestimated the impact of emotional con- nections between brands and customers and failed to see the relation- ship between these brands and the culture. After a stint of insanity during the dot-com heyday, the business world has again turned to more realistic views of corporate value, for the most part. Warren Buffett and like-minded investors, whose focus was always on return on investment, earnings per share (EPS), earn- ings growth, dividends, and similar measures, can exhale-financial analysts have put renewed faith in the old-time religion that equates the salvation of a firm with its profits, not its prophets. In this reborn truth lies the fundamental role of the brand: It is a mechanism to boost a firms sales and profits higher than those of its competitors.       Legendary Bands, Legendary Br ands   Only a few brands last so long that they might be called legendary. One of those is Wedgwood china, cited by brand historian Nancy Koehn in her book Brand New (Harvard Business School Press, 2001). Dating back to the 1700s, this brand still leads the market in terms of closet share among the rich and famous, and tops the wish lists of     brides-to-be around the globe. By no means exclusive to the world of products and commerce, legends abound in the music world. From Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms (whose music has transcended the cen- turies) to Al Jolson, Glenn Miller, and Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (who crossed racial barriers and defined an era of music), artists have connected deeply with people and helped to shape culture. And then theres Elvis-proving that even though an artist may die, a legendary brand lives on and continues to sell, sell, sell. The Elvis brand, like those of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, has remained a favorite among all sorts of people for decades. Such long- term market presence is amazing, especially when you remember how fickle people can be; whats hot one day isnt the next. Staying ahead of changing tastes and preferences is difficult. The question is how to create a brand strong enough to remain popular with cus- tomers over time-especially in the wake of a constant onslaught of new competitors armed with new promotional and communication campaigns designed to steal attention and loyalty. An intense look at the music industry sheds some light. For every band like the Beatles, there are tens of thousands of Sassy Peppers (Never heard of them? Our point precisely!) and thousands of Men Without Hats (anyone into popular 1980s music knows "Safety Dance," this bands one and only hit). Most rock-and-roll artists spend