Most of the time products build brands.

The reputation of the product impacts the brand’s reputation.

Google has the best search engine product in the marketplace = a great brand

Apple produce excellent products = a great brand

However in certain scenarios the brand will build the product.

For example, Oreos are a knock off cookie called Hydrox, which itself suffered from the impression that it was a knock off of Oreo and fell into obscurity. 

Although Hydrox entered the cookie market sooner they couldn’t capitalise that due to their brand name. Hydrox sounds like something you put in the washing machine not your mouth. 

A brand can give a competitive edge in the marketplace but it will only last so long. The longevity is creating great products that are relevant to the consumer.

Apple is arguably the biggest brand in the world. Imagine for the next 20 years they build poor product after poor product, do you think their value and profits will go down. Of course.

A brand name can only last so long if it’s product isn’t good enough.