Land-and-livestock owners face the dilemma of securing and maintaining property rights. Under the rule of animus revertendi, the rights of owners are not abandoned when livestock grazes unsupervised, if domesticated livestock have demonstrated an intention to return. This rule burdens owners with the responsibility to provide sufficient notice of ownership, often involving hot-iron or freeze branding.

Traditional hot-iron branding uses a heated iron rod to burn symbols into the the thick hides of livestock. Freeze branding uses a superchilled iron to destroy the pigmentation portion of the hair roots without damaging the hide, forcing the hair to grow back permanently white in a particular shape. Both procedures involve applying symbols to identify livestock as property of certain owners.

We often think of brand marketing in these terms; after all, the notion that brands are symbols, logos, or other marks is prevalent in marketing education. The American Marketing Association Dictionary defines brand as "[a] name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." This definition is even used in most introductory business textbooks.

What happens when the hot-iron and cold-burn methods of livestock identification are replaced by an invisible solution, such as tiny radio microtransmitters called RFID tags? What happens when symbols, logos, and other marks used to identify livestock are relegated to relics of the past? How will land-and-livestock owners maintain property rights to free-grazing livestock without the ability to see identifying marks?

Contrary to popular misconceptions, brands are more than visual manifestations of identities and branding is more than graphic design. Branding is not solely concerned with what people see. There are four other senses — hearing, touch, smell, and taste — that are forgotten by blindly focusing on sight! Branding is the practice of changing attitudes and behaviors through expression. Brands are the result of managing perception in the marketplace to alter how and why consumers experience their interactions with corporations and products.

Since the nature of experience is infinitely personal and infinitely dynamic, brands cannot be built in the same way that engineers build a bridge. Too many people are mistaken when assuming that they have top-down control over brands. There is no such thing as controlling brands in the sense of remote control. Part of branding requires letting go, and letting flourish or flounder. Branding connects people and inspires conversations. Through critical dialogue, brands are nurtured by the people and for the people.