Bedbury uses the metaphor of genetic code to describe the core of a strong brand. Just as DNA determines how an organism grows and responds to its environment, a brand's genetic code — its fundamental values, personality, and reason for existing — determines how the brand should look, sound, act, and grow over time. The organisations with the strongest brands have cracked their genetic code early and consistently express it across every decision, every product, every communication. The organisations with weak brands have never articulated it — so different people in the organisation make brand decisions in different directions, and the result is inconsistency that customers feel as unreliability. You cannot build a strong brand without first being able to answer: what is the core thing we are, and what is the core thing we are not?