How is brand different from identity? And if you have a quality product, isn't it your brand that communicates this to your customers?
"Branding" is a focus on perception, on advertising and promotion. "Identity" is a focus on developing your core values. The touchstone is whether or not what a company projects is decided by marketing strategy in isolation or by business development as a whole. Ideally, these are one in the same, but they rarely actually are coincidental.
Anyone can buy branding and in among commodities, that is the only hope. Identity and quality, however, must be built in.