"These days the whole country is brand-literate," says Gary Shaw, the founder and managing director of brand marketing agency MBD.

Without a Nike-type name trainers are devalued; without a label clothes lose their cachet and without swirly typography on the can, the carbonated water inside is merely a fizzy drink, not an experience.

"But a brand isn't just about an image - its about behaviour, culture, service and quality. If you get one area wrong, it impacts on the rest of the brand. But there also needs to be coherence and a consistency in the messages."

Every agency will tell you how it can boost or re-brand your product. But Mr Shaw has spent most of his working life researching this intriguing but often inexact science. He set up MBD - Marketing and Brand Development - 15 years ago and it has grown into a 28-strong creative agency backed-up by freelancers and specialists. Its local clients include Magnet, conservatory maker Sash UK and upmarket bathroom manufacturer C P Hart. Nationally, it bats for such big names as the Learning & Skills Council, GSL (formerly Group 4) and AXA Sun Life.

A few days ago it picked up a seven-figure, three-year contract from the Department for Education and Skills to develop partnerships with schools to transform education by investing in infrastructure and IT. It is one of only five agencies to be selected and the only one outside London.

Sitting in the spacious boardroom at Wellcroft House in Shipley, overlooking Baildon Moor, Mr Shaw and business development director Simon Bray expound on the firm's philosophy.

"A brand is only as strong as its weakest link," says Mr Shaw. "The brand starts with the staff. If they feel strongly about it, the brand in the marketplace stands a much better chance of survival. For example, the British Airways brand was always recognised. But BA don't have an edge any more because low-cost airlines have taken some of their values away."

"Although they've lost prime position they realised it wasn't just about technical competence but about all aspects of the delivery," interjects Mr Bray. "The brand wasn't just a badge but everything to do with BA.

"A lot of other organisations realise the same thing. It's not just the MacDonalds 'Have a nice day' formula. It's about every part of your organisation and how it lives and breathes."

MBD encourages its clients to be adventurous about brands. And, perhaps more important, says Mr Shaw, is getting companies not to just ask themselves, "What do we do?" but rather "What if we did such and such?"

"Once you reach a certain platform that's when you have to challenge the brand further," says Mr Shaw. "And that's what pushes a brand ahead.

"That's what Richard Branson has done as an entrepreneur. Virgin has always had the right price, the right service and the right quality and then he ramps it up to another level."

Mr Bray also believes success hinges on being able to radically reshape ideas with the power of positive thinking.

"It was Henry Ford who said that if he had asked his customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse not a car," says Mr Bray.

The irony is that this firm doesn't go overboard in over-promoting itself.

"We're probably one of Bradford's best-kept secrets," says Mr Shaw. "But in recent times we really do have something to shout about."

MBD hopes its business will continue to survive through radical re-evaluations, imagination and out-of-the-box thinking. Because, as Simon Bray quaintly puts it: "The Stone Age didn't end because they ran out of stones."