When I started writing this book in January of 2013, a Google search for the word brand yielded 2.91 billion (yes, with a b!) results. Although an exhaustive analysis of the content of these results was out of the scope of my inquiry, browsing through the results allows us to quickly identify key stakeholders concerning brands. A cursory glance shows page after page of links to brand consultants with recipes for helping companies create strong brands, as well as links to company websites promoting their own brands. The next category of links includes public news about brands, such as new product introductions, product recalls, and brand stories. Finally, blogs and forums also exist, in which consumers discuss issues related to the brands they use. These findings support the idea that brands matter to three different groups of stakeholders: companies, consumers, and society. Why are brands of interest for these different groups? Let us answer this question by focusing on the functions that brands perform for each group.