India, Feb. 16 -- "Are you saying that our revered corporate name is just a brand," a senior director asked me once, as I was presenting a corporate ad campaign to a large conglomerate. The question wasn't one to be scoffed at.
A brand is often equated with products, such as soaps and shampoos, chips and condoms, that exist in generic clusters, distinguishable only by superficial markers such as packaging and positioning.
As the singer Adele succinctly put it, in an interview with Time magazine a decade ago, "I don't like that word. It makes me sound like a fabric softener, or a packet of crisps. I'm not that." And yet, we live in an age of branding. Everything and everyone is looking to "build a brand".
What makes a great one? Managemen...