From mall Christmas trees to Starbucks cups, symbols carry weight with consumers

Brands can only hope the talk is positive. Businesses are about building equity, or the power to draw customers on the strength of the brand’s name, says Roger Beahm, an executive director of the Wake Forest School of Business Center for Retail Innovation.

“If people are saying good things about your brand, that’s building equity. If people are not saying good things, you could be losing equity,” Beahm said. “As a marketer, you have to be sensitive towards what the equity impact is of the messaging.

Read the full story at the Raleigh News & Observer.