whether you are a surgeon or a store, a manufacturer or a wholesaler, an Intel or an Amazon.com, a nonprofit organization, a for-profit corporation, or the Rolling Stones. Some brands, such as Wal-Mart and Victorias Secret, are highly successful. Some were once     stellar in consumer acceptance, but turned disastrous-Montgomery Ward and Kmart come to mind-and others simply were put out to pasture, like Bordens famous mascot Elsie the Cow. But regardless of how good, how bad, or how poorly designed and nebulous, every firm, every institution, and every person is a brand. Even government leaders are brands-consider how the brands of Presidents Clinton and Bush and Mayor Giuliani evolved during their terms of office. A brand is perhaps the greatest asset of any company not to appear on its balance sheet. Because accountant types find the con- cept of brand difficult to quantify, it is often thought of as a fuzzy marketing concept, which involves a logo, a tagline, and large expen- ditures. But a brand is much more than that. It is a product or prod- uct line with an identifiable set of benefits, wrapped in a recognizable personality, carrying with it a connection between product and cus- tomers. It is the difference between a watch and a Rolex, a car and a Mercedes, a cup of coffee and a Starbucks latte. It is the difference between the Eagles and A Flock of Seagulls or a host of other rock- and-roll wannabes. In the language of business, music stars are brands. Some are the Cokes and IBMs of music; others are the Shasta colas and Digital (DEC) computers. A powerful brand creates an image and an identity for a product or a company; it is a promise to consumers, telling them what they can expect when they and their cash or plastic are separated. If the brand promise is kept, customers end up saving time because less time is spent deciding between various brands. But when the promise is not fulfilled, consumers switch to another brand more likely to deliver on the promise, as rapidly as one number-one hit record replaces another. Contrary to the prevailing belief among the financial ranks, brand- ing is not just a marketers problem. It affects the marketability and financial well-being of the entire company, and when executed prop- erly, it sends a unified image and message throughout the firm and throughout the marketplace. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio and market capitalization of a firm are often dramatically higher if it has a powerful brand, or a particularly strong portfolio of brands, in the marketplace. The difference in profitability between firms with pow- erful brands and those with weak brands is known as brand equity- the difference in value created by a brand less the cost of creating the     brand. It may be measured as the difference between market capital- ization and book value, but when brands rock, they create investor value that lasts for decades. As the legendary rock bands exhibit throughout this book, creating brand equity is not a static concept or merely a marketing goal. Rather, it is a dynamic process that requires that brands be engaged in con-