All Brands Are Not Equal

By Mark Fogelberg

“Brands are important assets requiring proactive and consistent investment, management, and measurement.”

Interbrand's recently released report on the top global brands showcases the differences among brands and how these differences can amount to a huge valuation disparity. The rankings, a barometer of successful brand management, offer great data into leading brands. It also includes the element of how to quantify a brand’s total value including the intangible assets.

The brands ranked cross geographies, cultures and market segments to build the equity of their business. Great brands create demand, sell products, drive shareholder value, make for proud employees, and more. And the strategies used to propel these brands can make for fast economic growth – a company already owns the assets; it’s the execution of the brand strategy that creates incredible valuations. Interbrand evaluates brands as assets by forecasting the current and future revenue directly attributable to the branded product.

It’s a brilliant read and I encourage all marketers to download the complete survey. The methodologies and significance of the rankings are detailed on pages 44-46. Ways to analyze whether companies are investing adequately or whether marketing strategies are fully exploiting a brand’s potential are also defined.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the in-depth coverage from Business Week!

Comments

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Mark,

At least 80 of Interbrand's top 100 brands also have a ticker symbol associated with them. This little known fact should give you pause for thought. It is true that product markets and stock markets operate separately, but they interact in many subtle ways. So how could it be that management seems to overlook the potential for co-branding corporate trademarks and ticker symbols? I guess the answer is most of the financial folks, from the CFO right down to the latest MBA hire, think of tickers as a meaningless stock exchange index.

Maybe marketers can change this way of thinking. See my post "Southwest Airlines: Put a Little LUV in Your Logo!" on my blog http://customersandcapital.com/

~Vic