Branding has always been something I was interested in. “Know how to brand yourself.” a professor of mine would reiterate to the class, and it’s true you must know how to brand yourself in order to separate yourself from others and get ahead.   A new job of mine has brought me to research small companies and businesses online and quite frankly, they could have used a lesson or two from my professor in branding.  I’m amazed that despite how gorgeous and seemingly technologically forward a company’s location can be, they have a poorly designed and branded webpage that does not reflect the same message their actual presence in the real world does.  What these companies don’t realize is that online branding has become just as important of an investment as their actual location, marketing and advertising.  One company in particular has a satellite office location that no consumer sees and they rely solely on their website and stores that carry their products, which are high end bags and accessories for women.  Upon seeing samples at their location I immediately went home to check them out online,  The website was alright but didn’t reflect the high end products they were trying to sell and ultimately turned me off to purchasing.  Who is to know how many people have done this, shocking that someone would let something so obvious escape the branding radar.  Just another example of the growing influence of online tools.