The Greens and Bob Brown are interchangeable terms when it comes to branding. As a result, the resignation of Bob Brown has sparked an interesting debate on the relationship between the organisation brand and the personal brand.

Have people been following the brand "Greens" or the brand "Bob Brown"?

With over 1.6 million Australians voting for the Greens in 2010, this resignation is a massive blow to the brand of The Greens.

As most business advisors recommend, succession planning should be top of mind when you start business and not when you want to leave.

In the case of The Greens, it looks as though Bob Brown has quietly yet confidently created his own brand, slowly taking over as the sole representative of The Greens. Leaving no-one in a comfortable position to take over and continue his powerful reign.

Was this deliberate or lack of foresight?

Both the Liberal Party and Labor Party each have multiple recognisable representatives within the media. For example, Joe Hockey is as well known as Tony Abbott and Bob Carr is as well known as Julia Gillard.

Either way, The Greens party have been left in a devastating position with no other brand champion who has had enough air time, media attention or voice to be easily recognizable by the general public like that of Bob Brown.

The question in everyone’s mind is "Will they survive without Bob? There is no doubt, The Greens will have a long and hard battle to regain their brand positioning before the next election.