The mark of a brand is both given and received by both parties.

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While not unexpected, the retirement of the PowerBook does mark the end of a brand with a long, storied history as a sturdy, reliable workhorse, which later -- after Steve Jobs' return to the company -- morphed into a sleek and stylish object of desire for visual and creative artists.

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"We believe it will create a lot of buzz around our brand, " said Mark Ford, the president of Time Inc.

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Infinity Ward head Mark Rubin calls Ghosts "a new sub-brand" in the CoD franchise, and it's getting a new (unnamed) game engine to boot -- another indicator that previous characters aren't involved.

ENGADGET

Mark Rein is a director at Acquity Group, a global brand ecommerce and digital marketing company.

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In fact, the company has only recently begun to better leverage its strong performance brand name in footwear, and this spring will try to make a mark in the bra business.

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