We need you today, O Mandy Brands!

I have a pet name for my 2006 Honda CR-V - Mandy.

Because much like the eponymous protagonist of the Barry Manilow classic, it came and it gave without taking.

From the moment I drove it home two years ago, the ratio of give and take in our relationship has been decidedly one-sided.

It does everything I ask it to without demur and, bar fuel and an annual health check, it asks for nothing in return.

For which, in an over-stretched life, I cherish it dearly.

This sobriquet recently came to mind when thinking about the role of brands today.

Ever since it became technically possible for brands to engage consumers in more than just a one way relationship, it's been fashionable in marketing circles to talk in terms of mutuality, reciprocity, 'two way'.

But I'm not sure we ever actually asked consumers what they wanted - perhaps for fear of what they might say, in the majority of cases, that they did.

Namely, one way - in their favour.

You help me achieve my goals, and then ask for nothing in return - not likes, shares, recommendations to others, interest in your purpose or participation in your long-winded content.

In short, you make no demands on my precious time and energy whatsoever. You just serve.

Right now the future feels most uncertain.

But one thing we can be pretty sure about is that all our lives are only going to get even more hectic and demanding.

In which case, won't it be these Mandy Brands - the ones that come and give without taking - that we'll appreciate most?

- Brands like Paypal, which I know will always be there for me at the sometimes stressful moment of online payment, while leaving me alone the rest of the time.

- Or Google Maps, which will reliably direct me right when I call on it, but make no call on me outside of those moments.

Brands we can rely on to always satisfy our needs, but without themselves ever becoming needy.

Poor Mandy may have been unjustly sent away but, as life gets tougher for everyone, I can only see these sorts of brands taking ever more permanent residence in our lives.