I’ve been banging on for ages about how even for small companies “brand” is essential to success, even for one-man bands where the person is the brand and the brand is the person. It’s not just an issue for multinationals to worry about. Without “brand” there is no reason for customers to choose to use us – especially if you’re an online, virtual business. This has now been made even more apparent with the Covid-19 crisis as Mark Ritson describes in his inimitable style (see the link to his article in Marketing Week, below). I would disagree with him though when he talks about the “biggest, strongest brands” having an advantage. It might be just semantics but I don’t think “biggest” necessarily equates to “strongest”; so long as small companies develop strong brands, probably in niche markets that are well defined in terms of customers, I think small businesses can experience continued success and growth. What some of the most famous brands teach us though is that it’s a long, long process.