Whether a business is new or old, small or large, the key factor that will make it stand out from the crowd is an effective brand.

Branding not only lets customers know who you are but, done correctly, can also communicate what you as a company promise to offer. Be that convenience, luxury or an aspirational lifestyle, your brand is ultimately the lasting impression customers will be left with.

Here are 20 of the most thought-provoking quotes from experts and top CEOs to help inspire you to take your business to new branding heights.

“If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brand’s story for you.”

– David Brier, branding and brand identity expert and author of Brand Intervention

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” 

– Seth Godin, marketing and leadership expert

“Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touchpoints.”

– Jonah Sachs, entrepreneur and author of Winning the Story Wars

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“Of all the things that your company owns, brands are far and away the most important and the toughest. Founders die. Factories burn down. Machinery wears out. Inventories get depleted. Technology becomes obsolete. Brand loyalty is the only sound foundation on which business leaders can build enduring, profitable growth.” 

– Jim Mullen, Scottish businessman and CEO of the publisher Reach plc

“A brand is a voice and a product is a souvenir.”

– Lisa Gansky, American entrepreneur and author

“Brand identity fuels recognition, amplifies differentiation and makes big ideas and meaning accessible. Brands are messengers of trust. Customers are reassured by brands that are recognizable and familiar. Great brand strategy is a basic building block of good business strategy.”

– Alina Wheeler, branding expert and author of Designing Brand Identity

“Brands should think of themselves not as storytellers but storybuilders. We plant seeds of content and let our community build on it.” 

– Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment

“If no-one hates it, no-one really loves it.”

– Jessica Walsh, Co-Founder of design agency Sagmeister & Walsh

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.”

– Scott Cook, Co-Founder of software company Intuit

“Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual reinvention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.”

– Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group

“Positioning is finding the right parking space inside the consumer’s mind and going for it before someone else takes it.” 

– Laura Busche, author and branding expert

“Building a brand means knowing your story and building and sharing that story.”

– Tamara McCleary, CEO of digital marketing agency Thulium

“Brands are built from within … [they] have very little to do with promises made through advertising. They’re all about promises met by employees.”

– Ian P Buckingham, leadership coach and author of Brand Champions

“Brand is the sum total of how someone perceives a particular organization. Branding is about shaping that perception.” 

– Ashley Friedlein, Founder and CEO of technology company Guild

“It’s important to build a personal brand because it’s the only thing you’re going to have. Your reputation online and in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you’ve got to be a good person. You can’t hide anything, and more importantly, you’ve got to be out there at some level.”

– Gary Vaynerchuk, entrepreneur and branding expert

“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.”

– Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX