Clever. I kept looking for the new B word and never found it yet your subject headline made me read this provocative article to the end. Yes, Brand and Branding have become so bandied about as to become meaningless. Same with the term "value add" but that's another kettle of fish. Identity is a better word because its usually used to describe people and not things. And just as many people today suffer from cognitive dissonance (A gap in the way they perceive themselves versus how others do.) so do companies suffer from the same malady. The solution? Brands need to determine through research how their customers perceive them instead of how they perceive themselves. Reduce the dissonance and increase the linkage between a Brand and its customers and prospects.