[mrxd]

100% agree. I’d also add that people love to trash brands that produce substandard producers. Negative word of mouth spreads easier for more recognizable brands, and the company’s need to protect their reputation provides a level of assurance that doesn’t exist for anonymous producers.

[LargoLasskhyfv]

I disagree partially. Depending on the size of the corporation holding the brand, and thus available capital, it may be chump change for white/greenwashing via advertisement campaigns, cross media product placement, lawsuits, and employing whole armies of "reputation management* trolls...err professionals flooding any site with positive comments, burying anything else.

[mrxd]

Word of mouth is person-to-person, not online or media. Brand marketing is also different from product marketing.