View brands as bank accounts that you can deposit into or draw from.

If you've drawn down, you need to deposit more.

This was advice Steve Jobs gave to Bob Iger.

This bank account is hidden and emergent.

It's a store of trust.

Beancounters don't see it, so they don't see how their micro-optimizations are harming this store of trust.

But this store of trust matters more than any individual transaction.