There are as many theories on brands as there are branding experts. But perhaps we can all agree on one thing: the brand as we know it is changing. Or at least how we marketers think of it.

Traditionally, brands have been thought of as informational carriers of attributes describing a product, service or organization. A sort of esoteric amalgam of emotional, practical and aesthetic qualities that marketers, designers and brand consultants have dreamed up. Brands have been left alone to mature and are usually freshened up every ten years or so. Their success has been measured in consumers relationships to them - how do you feel about ACME? Focus groups and surveys have been used to gauge people’s attitudes; concepts such as top of mind have been of outmost importance to CMOs. Nowadays, top of mind is being replaced by top of rank - where does your brand name show up in Google results when your keyword is typed in?

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