He brought with him to our table an all-too-common set of preconceptions about branding and marketing that I often hear from values driven clients. This understandable cynicism is born out of a perfectly understandable – but fundamentally distorted – view of brand.

People like my lunch partner worry that branding is all about creating a pretence or a mask that is neither true nor honest. They think of Enron and WMDs and other edifices that have been built to mask deception and lies. And if not deception then at best a brand is seen as fluff – fonts and colours that disguise sugared water as a source of happiness, shiny white computers as a badge of Californian creativity.

But I would venture to put forward a contrary case.

I believe that the best brands do precisely the opposite. I believe that the best brands can actually remove the veil and reveal the true personality of the organisations they represent. A great brand quite literally TELLS the truth. That's its job.

As a values centred brand consultancy, it's IE's job to compellingly tell the story of a brand / organisation / movement – its distinctive values, the change that it generates, the value that it delivers and the emotional connection that its donors / staff / stakeholders / customers feel – through the vehicles of words and pictures, through physical and virtual spaces – and most importantly – through brand experience and behaviours.

The challenge is to somehow imbibe touch points, pixels and printing ink with the personality and passion of real people.

Ultimately it's all about building stories that instill values and invite relationships. Why should I engage with your brand? Because I want to be part of your story. And I want you to be part of my story too. So if I choose to support your charity or I carry your bag-for-life or I give you a Facebook like, it's because I want to be part of your tribe. I gain something from our association. At its most significant that something might be as deep and as fundamental as a sense of self worth – because I know by giving to you I am helping to make a difference and by carrying your bag I identify myself as being willing to play my part in that story.

When we think of poppies or red noses we remember those who gave their life in our defence or who gave us a laugh in order to help those less fortunate. Brands tell stories and stories have the power to inspire action and to bring about change.

So if your organisation is values driven and is proud of what lies beneath, then IE would love to help you tell your story.

Because a logo's just a logo. But a great brand can remove the veil.