I used to think branding was just a company’s image. A polished logo, a clever slogan, and a color scheme that made you feel something. If a company looked professional and put together, that was all it needed to have a strong brand. But the more I’ve explored branding, the more I realize that a brand is not what a company says it is—it is what people experience it to be.

Branding is a feeling, not a font choice

I assumed branding was intentional and controlled, that businesses created their brand through careful marketing strategies. While that is true to some extent, branding is also fluid and shaped by the audience. A brand exists in the space between what a company does and how people respond to it. This reflects Hackley’s (2009) argument in Marketing in Context: Setting the Scene, where he suggests that marketing and branding do not operate in isolation but are influenced by social, cultural, and psychological contexts.

Jaguar’s recent rebrand proves that branding is not just about what a company says—it is about how people receive and accept that message. The automaker has shifted its identity from a heritage-rich luxury brand to a sleek, all-electric future-focused company. The branding is intentional, but the reaction has been anything but predictable.

Longtime Jaguar enthusiasts feel disconnected from the new vision, seeing it as a loss of identity rather than an evolution. The company is moving toward a minimalist, exclusive electric future, yet it has not established credibility in the EV space. Unlike Tesla, which built its brand around innovation from the start, Jaguar’s new positioning feels like a sharp break from its past, leaving both existing and potential customers uncertain about where it truly fits.

The backlash highlights a critical point: branding is not just about what a company presents to the world, but about whether the audience believes in the transformation. A brand’s evolution needs to feel authentic, not forced. If consumers do not see the shift as natural, they push back. The best brands evolve while keeping their core intact, allowing customers to feel part of the transition.

Southerton (2011) argues that branding is co-created through consumer engagement, not just corporate decisions. Jaguar’s shift might look perfect on paper, but if its audience rejects the new image, then the rebrand does not work; no matter how well-designed it is.

A brand is never fully in the hands of the company that creates it. It lives in the minds of the people who interact with it. And if they are not convinced? No logo, no tagline, and no amount of marketing can change that.

The best brands don’t shout, they whisper until you believe

I also thought branding was mostly about how a company looks, but I now realize it is more about how it makes people feel. The most effective brands create a sense of familiarity and trust. This is not just about design but about consistency in tone, messaging, and service. A company can have the best-designed logo in the world, but if their service is unreliable or their messaging is inconsistent, their brand identity weakens.

Branding extends beyond corporate strategy into consumer culture and identity. People attach emotional meaning to brands, incorporating them into their lifestyles and social circles (Southerton, 2011). This is why people will spend an obscene amount of money on Stanley cups when any other insulated tumbler will do the same job. It is why shoppers will wait in line for the newest sneaker release, convinced that a pair of shoes is going to change their entire personality. It is not just about the product itself. It is about what the brand represents in a cultural and personal sense.

My perspective on branding? Flipped upside down.

I still think branding is about strategy, but I now understand it is also about emotion, perception, and experience. It is not just about what a company tells us. It is about how we come to understand and trust that brand over time. This shift in perspective has made me more aware of how I interact with brands and question how much of my perception is shaped by what they have shown me versus what I have projected onto them.

What about you? Have you ever realized that a brand you trusted was not what you thought it was?

References

• Hackley, C. (2009). Marketing in Context: Setting the Scene. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Southerton, D. (2011). Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture. SAGE Publications.