A brand by any other name...

The results of recent elections for UK local government and European Parliament have been announced and, as expected, Gordon Brown's Labour Party has done dreadfully. This morning the commentariat has been banging on about: -

What this means for the Labour Party brand

Of course what they really mean is: -

What this means for the Labour Party

The inclusion of the word adds nothing to the sentence and is therefore rendered meaningless.

I'm going to have to stop using 'brand' as a coverall term for 'positive presence' in a marketplace / psychological space / whatever.