What Is a Brand?
A brand is why people care. A brand is trust. A brand is not a product--it's the feeling a product evokes. A brand is why people will pay more for your product. A brand is something made to appear unique.

Why Things Go Better With Coke. Chemically, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and the "plain wrap" colas are nearly identical. Yet Coke dominates Pepsi around the world, and both outsell private-label colas despite being twice as expensive. Why? Because, in people's minds, Coca-Cola is not merely "carbonated sugar water"; it's the elixir of the American Dream. The brand is synonymous with the vim and vigor used to conquer the Wild West and the Moon. It's the flag and singing on mountain tops.
Pepsi is taste, not magic. And the other guys? The other guys are just cheap.

That's the power of branding.