Here's another short story that illustrates two recent posts:

• Sales is marketing (and everything is marketing)
• It doesn't matter what you mean, it matters what they think

Again via Morgan Housel.

Again, I'm not going to indent since it's long, so everything between the lines is the quote.

JFK and Jackie Kennedy didn’t have a great relationship. In 1955, two years after their marriage, Jack told his father, Joe Kennedy, he wanted a divorce.

Joe responded: “You’re out of your mind. You’re going to be president someday. This would ruin everything. Divorce is impossible.”

Jack reiterated that he and Jackie weren’t happy.

His father shot back: “Can’t you get it into your head that it’s not important what you really are? The only important thing is what people think you are!”

The marriage endured.

Everything is sales.

This is an extreme example for a specific scenario. But it could also be argued Bud Light didn't take this advice recently (that controversy is still stupid).

The true key is to craft, maintain, and co-create your brand in such a way that what you are and what they think you are is the same thing.