How much is too much?

Brands seem to be kind of a big deal. They are everywhere we are. You really can’t look at much of anything without seeing a brand. There are millions of jobs that are created for branding. And after all aren’t we all in graphic design because of brands? Without brands there would not be much of a need for graphic designers. So as much as we may not like brands we all need them.
The question is though how much branding is too much? Is there an invisible line that should not be crossed? Maybe it will be up to all of us to decide where this line is? Or maybe there should never be a line in the branding world maybe the crazier it is the better it is for the brand. Or maybe it just depends on what the brand is as to what will promote it the most.
Sometimes it seems like the less branding there is the better it works for the brand. This was seen with the way the Body Shop got known. They seemed to get so popular not because of their advertising but because of their political philosophy about women, the environment and ethical business. I was surprised at how seemingly surprised the Body Shop was at how big they have gotten.
I wonder if the Body Shop would have grown so large so quickly if they had poured their efforts into branding?