So, our very own Charles wrote a few days ago about the business ‘chicken or egg’ type story, the Brand vs. Business, especially is regards to the Web 2.0 talk that is going around. But, what about something outside of the Web? Check out this line from Brand Autopsy’s view on a brand vs. business flop.

The lesson I learned….you cannot create a brand before you create a business. The business creates a brand. The brand should never create the business.

So, what happens to those who do? Read up on this sad, sad Song and you will see how fast you can go from flying high to out of business and closing the doors. And to be honest, I had never heard of Song airlines until 2 months ago when I saw them on the tarmac at JFK. They never were big enough to fly to San Diego (or Prague for that matter). I’ll have to admit….Song sure does have a nice logo and brand. Too bad it’s stuck on the tarmac.

So, what does this have to do with the one man shops in the Web 2.0 group? You may not be Harvard material, or junior college material, but if you want to stay in business the bare minimum you have to do: put the business before the brand. The group that was in charge of Song was not a bunch of schleps from Jersey (no offense to Jersey specifically…I just had to pick a state). Delta, the owners of Song, was created by well educated business personnel, more MBAs than they can shake a stick at, and have been in business for a long time. If they forgot the simple idea of business before brand, don’t you think you should listen to their mistake?