The concepts of "brand" and "reputation" are often seen as one and the same. However, when viewed separately, significant opportunities arise to improve both. The road to successful branding has never been more complex or challenging. What started, as a one-way lane going directly from the manufacturer's door to the buyer's door is now an everexpanding, two-way, multi-lane superhighway with intersections, tollbooths, and rest stops. During this evolution, the meaning of the word "brand" has become very broad. It has come to mean everything from a trademark to what amounts to being an all-encompassing and nearly religious experience. Today consumers, consultants, retailers, wholesalers, direct sellers, CEOs, CFOs and CMOs use the word to mean different things depending on their perspectives on, orientation to, and knowledge of, the branding discipline.