It is very expensive to change the name of a brand. Customers are lost. Markets become confused. Competitors have a new advantage.

Choose a name that describes your business. Create one that clearly, crisply differentiates you from your competitors.

And you must own the .com—the top-level domain for commerce..

When the brand fails, the business fails—because customers buy brands not companies.

There is a recognized set of failure-factors for brands:

Customers have more contemporary choices

A discontinuous innovation enters the category and the market

The functional and emotional benefits of ownership have lost their significance

When business declines—invest in the brand.

People, places, and companies become brands. The most successful brands become icons. They represent culture—a way of life.

Companies: Coca Cola. Apple. Harley Davidson.

Entertainers: Marilyn Monroe. James Dean. Marlon Brando.

Places: New York. Paris. Beijing.

Leaders: Abraham Lincoln. Winston Churchill. Franklin Roosevelt.

Athletes: Muhammad Ali. Michael Jordan. Babe Ruth.

Big data—quantitative research—is the province of big brands.

Smaller data—qualitative research—is the province of smaller brands. Conduct ten one-on-one interviews with your primary target customers. Each interview should be about fifteen minutes and recorded with the permission of the interviewee.

Smaller data equals big data.

In order to realize the desired investment objectives, financial portfolios are built with specific ‘categories’ of products.

In order to realize the desired business objectives, brand portfolios are built with specific ‘categories’ of brands.

To be successful, both brand and financial portfolios must be flexible, resilient, and mitigate risk.

It is said that for most of human history, we have counted as follows: one, two, three, many.

A brand should have three benefits, three personality traits, three features, three messages, and three points-of-differentiation.

Any more than three is one too many. Any more than three does not count.

In the mind of the customer, a strong, favorable, and unique brand personality differentiates a brand from its competitors.

We form relationships with those individuals whose personalities we enjoy and respect. So it is with brands.

You must identify your three key brand personality traits.

General Motors selling cars with known defects. Major League Baseball players abusing steroids. Martha Stewart guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

These brands are self-healing because they share three attributes:

Elasticity—competing in numerous sub-categories simultaneously

Strong Competitive Positioning—preferred choice

Archetypal Stories of Origin—foundational and shared myths

Brand. Company. Competition. Customer.

Your Company: brand defines the promise your company makes to its customers.

Your Competition: brand differentiates you from your competitors in the minds of your customers.

Your Customer: brand communicates the benefits of buying your products to your customers.

Brand is your connective tissue.

Creating choice—you cannot be chosen unless you are a choice

Simplifying complex purchasing decisions

Signaling assurance and guaranteeing quality

Commanding a price-premium

Developing long-term customer loyalty

Organizing markets for customers

Communicating leadership

There is no other asset, whether tangible or intangible, that can deliver this much value.