Scott Bedbury defined brand best (and we added some goodness to his definition): A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the off-strategy. It is defined as your best product/service as well as your worst. It is defined by award-winning advertising as well as by the god-awful ads that somehow slipped through the cracks. It is defined by the accomplishments of your best employee–as well as the mishaps of the worst hire that you ever made. It is defined by your receptionist, the music your customers are subjected to while on hold, and even the smell of your office/store. For every grand and finely worded public statement by your leader to the idle chatter in the breakroom to the social world of Facebook and Twitter. Brands are sponges for content, images, and fleeting feelings. They become psychological concepts held in the hands 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.