The relevance of this study stems from the transformation of branding in the digital age, where it evolves from a marketing tool into a complex existential project bound up with the search for identity and meaning. The aim of the paper is to identify and philosophically analyze the existential meanings of branding and the phenomenon of the human brand. The research methodology is based on comparative analysis and systematization of the concepts advanced by key representatives of existential philosophy (J.-P. Sartre, M. Heidegger, A. Camus, F. Nietzsche, M. Buber), as well as on a critical review of contemporary Russian and international scholarship on branding and digital culture. The findings establish that branding is an ambivalent process which, on the one hand, opens up possibilities for self-realization as a form of resistance to the absurd, and, on the other, harbors the risk of losing authenticity under the pressure of external expectations and algorithms. It is demonstrated that genuine branding requires a conscious balance between the freedom of self-determination and responsibility for the image being created. It is further shown that cultural context determines the specificity of the existential meanings of branding: Western models emphasize individualism and rebellion, while the Russian tradition is oriented toward collective being. The main conclusion is that branding can be conceptualized as one of the existentially charged projects of modernity, in which freedom, responsibility, and courage remain the conditions of authentic existence.

The relevance of this study stems from the transformation of branding in the digital age, where it evolves from a marketing tool into a complex existential project bound up with the search for identity and meaning. The aim of the paper is to identify and philosophically analyze the existential meanings of branding and the phenomenon of the human brand. The research methodology is based on comparative analysis and systematization of the concepts advanced by key representatives of existential philosophy (J.-P. Sartre, M. Heidegger, A. Camus, F. Nietzsche, M. Buber), as well as on a critical review of contemporary Russian and international scholarship on branding and digital culture. The findings establish that branding is an ambivalent process which, on the one hand, opens up possibilities for self-realization as a form of resistance to the absurd, and, on the other, harbors the risk of losing authenticity under the pressure of external expectations and algorithms. It is demonstrated that genuine branding requires a conscious balance between the freedom of self-determination and responsibility for the image being created. It is further shown that cultural context determines the specificity of the existential meanings of branding: Western models emphasize individualism and rebellion, while the Russian tradition is oriented toward collective being. The main conclusion is that branding can be conceptualized as one of the existentially charged projects of modernity, in which freedom, responsibility, and courage remain the conditions of authentic existence.