Let's put it this way...

Design is inspirational, branding is aspirational. Branding gives your business & product a soul.

So, is a being a person with soul "overrated"? I think not.

Great question. I am going to look at it with two hats on.

First hat: someone sells branding to clients
From this perspective I always tell clients you are living in a world of product parity. If any of you have seen the movie Paycheck with Ben Affleck where he is a reverse engineer or the clip of Borat in the US asking a store manager about cheese, you will see what I am talking about. The products are very similar if not the same. In the UK the supermarket brands products are often made by the branded products manufacturer. So no difference. But what you sell is an emotional connection .... not a product function. Nike sell that you are going to be a better athlete.... not that their shoes are better. They have taken this even further by giving you greater tools to do it with Nikeplus, tie ins with iPod, technology etc. Brillant. But what is the real difference in the shoes. I would argue there are better functional shoes for running on the market. But I would buy Nike.
Hat two: the angle from of a person buying into brands.
With a huge strive for people to identify themselves, brands act as scrapbook in the search for their social identity. Kids are all over social networks like myspace/bebo because it gives them an opportunity to express who they think they might want to be(research I have seen shows they dont quite know yet. People in their early 20's are trying to show people who they think they are). Brands do that across all ages..... and help people link with communities of likeminded people. People link with likeminded people everywhere, sports clubs, hobbies now online... so seeing a commonality in the brands people use is also becoming bigger. I wear this shirt or those jeans...and look some of my friends do as well. Look at Harley Davidson riders, or Mac Computer users(before the iPod)... or people waving to VW Beetle or Mini drivers waving to each other.
Where its now getting really interesting is the growth of mass inclusive brands like amazon, ebay etc. Which are built from the mass collective of people. Not because of a big company did a great marketing campaign that everyone liked. Take my relationship with Fast Company. I sat waiting for a friend in his agency once in Australia and started reading it. A friend that worked there, who I respect raved on about how great it was. I started reading it regularly and loved it. I aspired to be an entreprenaurial, innovative, leader with great management techniques and understanding of technology. I shared it with my friends who are simialr to me. I hang out and write here because I want to be with likeminded people which fast company has brought me online.

Now the best bit is trying to show the old brands how to do it in the new way.

Heres my notes on some of it here

http://thingsdonotchangewechange.blogspot.com

thanks for the great post

No, there is just the next level that should be added. Building up an icon is far more interessting, finding synergies between content (i.e. product, services...) and packaging to build new symbioses and getting aspects and visibiltiy to your brand again.

Example: The Berlin Design Dome is celebrating its premiere and giving a marvellous idea of the potential of building up an icon.
The Milano Furniture Fair Salone Internationale del Mobile sets international trends and is exactly the right venue to include exclusive exhibition space in the show.
The Berlin Design Dome presents itself as a creative ambassador to the capital from the 16th to the 21st of April.
Starting with the idea by Susanne Philippson from Hidden Fortress German Branch to the design by ZENDOME, the cooperation with Berlin companies Coordination Berlin as well as the design network Create Berlin, the DMY International Design Festival and the lighting design laboratory Room Division has constantly gained momentum.
Best airing time, best frequency: The Via Forcella directly next to the SuperStudio is the address for the creative world. We are sure about the ratings, come by and join the discussions with and about the designers.
On board are design atelier Bombdesign, the agency for product design ett la benn, the product and interior design office form-al, the design office Mark Braun, the office for interior design by Martin Holzapfel, and the label pluma cubic by Heike Buchfelder, Motorberlin.com, Björn Meier, John Apl, Reuber Henning, Flip Sellin, Parkhaus, Roomsafari, Thesenfitz & Wedekind, Tom Kühne Architektur und Design, Kiru System, Llotllov, Metrofarm, and Ulrike Acker.
The curators, Prof. Werner Aisslinger, product designer, and Prof. Francois Burkhardt, renowned design theorist, writer, art director for Thonet and former director of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, are widely recognised representatives of the design industry and experts in the Milan design scene. The support of the Berlin project in Milan by Francois Burkhardt is similar to a knighthood for Berlin as a design metropolis.
The presentation of Berlin in Milan as well as the exhibition architecture set new design standards and create an unmistakable signature of Berlin in the Italian metropolis. The "Berlin Design Dome" - a successful symbiosis of the Berlin Television Tower, and a geodesic dome tent, Zendome150.M form a very special architectural highlight in Milan where “Made in Berlin” takes place.

In some cases, to some degree.

For example, almost all major brand washing machines and driers in North America (other than recent imports) are made by Whirlpool, but they carry the brand of Kenmore (Sears), Maytag (bankrupt), and many others.

So you now have many (in effect) hybrid brands, even though most consumers are unaware of them.

As well, branding is created by consumers, not advertisers. Examples, of course, are Amazon, eBay, and others, which were created by word-of-modem.

Why don't agencies understand these concepts of human behavior?

Branding isn't overrated, but is is often done very poorly. Over the years, I see the same branding mistakes being made over and over -- doesn't matter if it's big company or small. Perhaps the biggest mistake I see is companies believing they must satisfy people's "needs" with their brands. Baloney! People don't buy what they need. (Do we really need a $6 cup of coffee? Bottled water that's more expensive per gallon than gasoline?)Folks, people buy what they want. And most companies don't understand or can't accept this. The reason? They're more in love with their product than they are with their customer. And they have no clue how to find out what people really want.) As they say: "Love is blind."

Chris Wirthwein, author: BRAND BUSTERS

Branding isn't overrated --- it's overanalyzed (which, ironically, is what I'm doing here). It should be an organic "thing" that emerges out of having an intelligent, authentic business. If you have to "do branding" you might be trying too hard... -BM

Absolutely not. Read Authenticity from Pine & Gilmore or Meatball Sundae and it becomes clear that branding is crucial and vital but also complicated.

No. Brand is part of the heart and soul for companys or products. Means much more than a personal name because must be exclusive and nontransferable. Brand+Experiencies=>Feelings and Expectancies.

Brand = lifestyle association.

1. take a $30 pair of jeans and compare it with a $100+ pair of jeans. Remove all labels. Is there a real difference.

2. People who buy eg the Infiniti G series would probably never buy the Nissan Skyline series (they are the same car).

Yes. But what is truly important is the Product<-->Brand connection. Brand has good reputation in the market if there is a great Product.
Think Ferrari, Apple, Google.
Great Brands. and Great products.
Great Brands with poor products fall quickly, and perform poorly also on NASDAQ/NYSE. Think Microsoft. Think Yahoo. Look at the stock performance of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo in the last 5 years and compare ...