A brand isn't a task you perform in isolation; it's the direct result of everything else you do. Andrew, the host of Ecommerce Playbook, made a great point that the bad brands are going away right now. The ones that win have real substance, not just slick marketing. So the best way to "use" brand building is to deliver a fantastic product and a consistently great experience. On Limited Supply, Nik Sharma and Moiz Ali constantly hammer that a new brand's most important focus should be strong product messaging.
Once you have that substance, the next step is to communicate it clearly. This is where many people get tripped up, starting with logos instead of the core message. Ezra Firestone talked about this on The eCommerceFuel Podcast, emphasizing the need to blend your message and your product into one cohesive experience. This is your "why," as Chelsea Jones and Rachel Saul put it on Hit Subscribe. When your mission, product, and communication all align, you create real brand equity. The reward, as another eCommerceFuel episode explains, is that strong branding creates absurd rewards, reducing your reliance on paid ads because customers trust you and choose to come back.