I've just spent a considerable amount of time in a large shopping mall. It was full of brands.
That is to say it was full of logos, trained staff, experiences, promises, points of difference and the rest of the marketing communities flim-flam. What is was short on, or so it appeared was good honest product. Take away the concepts, the logos, the environment and you are left with very similar products (how many different hoodies can you have) of indifferent quality only separated by the "value" that the brand adds and therefore how much you can hoodwink the customer into spending.
Of course, not every familiar brand produces indifferent product. Quite the opposite, many make fine product and the brand is built on that reputation. But for some the brand leads the product and not the other way around and it is there I think the problem may lie. That and brand extension.
Take an example. Harley Davidson make motorcycles. Their motorcycles historically were conservatively built (I speak as an owner for over 30 years) and reliable if maintained and not thrashed. They were also (1) not Japanese, Chinese or Italian, and (2) they were ridden by 'Bikers', outlaws. It was an image that Harley quietly encouraged, but also remained aloof from. In the 90s a generation who had buckled down, made some cash, and was now realising that middle age had crept up decided it wanted a motorcycle. Harley cashed in on their brand and were very successful. Marketeers realised that you could stick HD on just about everything and it would sell, and it appears it did for a while. But when you start selling cheap aftershave (I forget how many people brought that for me) - and forget that beards figure quite a bit - and all the other stuff then you become a parody of yourself.
In the end, without honest products, the brand will be exposed for the valueless component it is. Spending money on branding won't make your organisation better if the base product is just the same as everyone else. Probably your company doesn't need a logo, or image consultants if the product is good. Reorganisation isn't progress.
