In today's competitive online marketplace, building a strong brand is non-negotiable. Branding plays an important role in developing brand image, recognition, and loyalty. 

If you need a little inspiration to get started on your next branding project, we've put together a list of our favorite branding quotes. Whether you're rebranding, building your brand for the first time, or just looking to re-awaken your creative passion, these quotes provide wisdom from some of today's top branding experts.

This article is part of Air’s Ultimate Guide to Branding. Click here to explore the rest!

Quotes about defining your brand

What is a brand? That isn't an easy question to answer, but these inspiring entrepreneurs give us a few different perspectives on what a brand is and what branding is all about.

"Brand is the sum total of how someone perceives a particular organization. Branding is about shaping that perception."

Ashley Friedlein, founder and CEO of Guild

"Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time."

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX

"A brand is a voice, and a product is a souvenir."

Lisa Ganksy, entrepreneur and author

"A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer's decision to choose one product or service over another."

Seth Godin, marketing and leadership expert, best-selling author, and speaker

"A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is—it is what consumers tell each other it is."

Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit

Quotes about the importance of branding

We probably don't have to convince you about the importance of branding. However, if you ever need a little assistance explaining the importance of what you do to your colleagues (or your grandma), use these quotes and their quotes as inspiration.

"Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business."

Steve Forbes, Editor in Chief of Forbes Magazine

"Focus on building the best possible business. If you are great, people will notice and opportunities will appear."

Mark Cuban

"A product can be quickly outdated, but a successful brand is timeless."

Stephen King, best-selling author

"All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are the CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You." 

Tom Peters, business management expert and best-selling author

"Your brand is a gateway to your true work. You know you are here to do something—to create something or help others in some way. The question is, how can you set up your life and work so that you can do it? The answer lies in your brand. When you create a compelling brand, you attract people who want the promise of your brand—which you deliver."

Dave Buck, professional coach and CEO of CoachVille

Quotes about personal branding

Sometimes branding gets personal — literally. These quotes from successful entrepreneurs across industries prove that personal branding is a valuable and powerful way to connect with your customers or clients.

"Your personal brand serves as your best protection against business factors you can't control."

Dan Schawbel, founder of research and advisory firm, Millennial Branding

"Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don't own your own business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records."

Tim Ferriss, entrepreneur and author of The 4-Hour Workweek

"Your personal brand is a promise to your clients... a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability."

Jason Hartman, entrepreneur, speaker, and author

"You too are a brand. Whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not."

Marc Ecko, fashion designer, entrepreneur, and artist

"Developing your personal brand is the same thing as living and breathing your resume."

Gary Vaynerchuk, entrepreneur and author

Quotes about brand reputation

"I don't give a da*n about my [brand] reputation..." Okay, so that's not how the song goes — and for good reason! You should give a damn about your brand reputation as it can make or break your business. If anyone says otherwise, you can use these quotes to enlighten them.

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well."

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon

"Branding is the art of aligning what you want people to think about your company with what people actually do think about your company. And vice-versa."

Jay Baer, marketing expert and best-selling author

"Adversity in business is inevitable, but it's how you deal with hardship that helps your brand stand out from the competition. People—both customers and staff—rally behind brands that learn from their mistakes and rise above challenges."

Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, author, and philanthropist

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do."

Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company

Quotes about brand trust and loyalty

Building brand trust and loyalty isn't easy, but it is worth it. Moreover, it's something you've got to be in for the long haul. When you're losing steam, just take a peek at these quotes to remind you why you do what you do.

"If people like you, they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they'll do business with you."

Zig Ziglar, best-selling author and motivational speaker

"If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand."

Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks

"Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room."

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon

"Satisfaction is a rating. Loyalty is a brand."

Shep Hyken, customer service and experience expert and best-selling author

"The keys to brand success are self-definition, transparency, authenticity, and accountability.

Simon Mainwaring, brand futurist and best-selling author

Quotes about building a brand story

While some may be more interesting than others, brand stories are at the heart of every brand. The challenge is in telling the story in a compelling way that resonates with your audience. These branding quotes from industry greats just might inspire you to look at brand stories in a whole new light.

"A great brand is a story that is never completely told."

Scott Bedbury, branding consultant

"Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touchpoints."

Jonah Sachs, author and entrepreneur

"If you don't give the market the story to talk about, they'll define your brand's story for you."

David Brier, brand identity expert and author of Brand Intervention

"Brands should think of themselves not as storytellers but storybuilders. We plant seeds of content and let our community build on it."

Amy Pascal, business executive and film producer

"The key is no matter what story you tell, make your buyer the hero."

Chris Brogan, author and marketing consultant

Quotes about creativity

Need a little inspiration to get the creative juices flowing? Take it from these innovative folks who understand the creative branding process.

"Products are made in a factory, but brands are created in the mind."

Walter Landor, branding pioneer

"Branding is the process of connecting good strategy with good creativity."

Marty Neumeier, branding expert and author of The Designful Company

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things."

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple

"Design is the silent ambassador of your brand."

Paul Rand, art director and graphic designer

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail."

Edwin Land, co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation

We love branding

At Air, we love branding, and we recognize how messy the creative process can be. That's why we developed a solution beyond the traditional cloud storage that is built specifically for the modern creative and the way they work.

In fact, we like to think of Air as the first workspace designed by creative people for creative people. We make creativity easy, fast, and fun with simple features that support the work you do. 

Learn more about how Air can help you build a better brand experience.

Click to return to Air’s Ultimate Guide to Branding.