The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier which was published in early 2000, talks about how when creative professionals and business strategists can have a "meeting of the minds" or bridge the gap, on a given project, brand magic can occur. This is the phenomenon called synergy and has been the mission of Synergy Creative since 1998. I think these visuals from The Brand Gap sum up why synergy is so important to a brands success.

Witness the magic when 1 + 1 = 11

Strategy by its very nature is linear. First we do this, then we do this and then we do that.

Creativity by its very nature is non-linear.
We could do this or we could try this or maybe we should do the other thing???

This is a problem beacuse…

  
and brands are all about trust.

Well said, Mr. Neumeier!