It's all branding

It amazes me that a leading publication in the advertising industry still doesn't get it.

It's all too clear based on this headline on Adweek.com

I'm going to say this very slowly to make sure they understand:

Branding is not a logo;
it's everything a company does.
Especially the product.

The fact that McDonald's can create ads showing just the product with very few other visual cues only demonstrates how strong their brand is. They've managed to differentiate it right down to the two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles on a sesame seed bun...

If you want to see how strong your brand really is, this is a great exercise. Go ahead, create an ad without a logo. If you can't recognize it as yours, neither will your consumer. That's a signal you should get to work on making your product, your packaging and everything else unique so that it expresses your brand. That'll make your "branding" work a hell of a lot harder.

Here are images from the "unbranded" campaign in question.