What is branding?

I've heard countless explanations, most of which are just hot air. Stan Slap (yes, that's his name) had some interesting comments at the May Microsoft CEO Summit on branding that I thought made a lot of sense.

"Branding is creating faith in three groups that absolutely can't be fooled. Your manager culture, your employee culture and your customer culture."

"Branding is not an action, it's a reaction."

"The purpose of branding is not to communicate your intent to the world. Branding is why the world should care."

Slap (hard to write that) argues this is the role of the CEO, not the CMO. It's not a marketing and advertising excercise.