Believe it or not, brands and brand development may be rising into the public consciousness.

Yesterday on a major television network - okay, it was NBC - the Today Show featured a story about stock photos in ads. The gist of it was that even large companies are using stock pix from the discount aisle at KMart - which means they aren't paying for exclusive rights. And so, the same picture turns up in two or more ads, possbly even for competing products. They showed a dozen examples, from companies as varied as Met Life, J.P.Morgan Chase, Wellpoint, Viagara, and Washington Mutual. The same picture repeated, reversed, sometimes the background used with opposing politicians Photoshopped into the foreground.

What's wrong with this picture? Legally, nothing. But as the piece points out, (wait for it...) it does make it pretty hard to establish the uniqueness of your particular brand.

Dr. Florence Webb Consultant Stokefire Consulting Group