Brand Matters

"Companies that place high importance on managing the economic value of their intangible assets and primarily their brands, consistently outperform basic economic measures."

[Interbrand Top Performing European Retail Brands, 2008]

I was reading an article in Ad Age about how, increasingly, the people who handle the brand inside organization are being considered for top jobs.

Brand matters. It contributes significantly to the company's value. Lived and owned rather than an afterthought - a deliberate, two-way conversation between a company and the marketplace - a brand is a powerful asset.

Especially in an increasingly crowded competitive environment. A brand that does well by its customers earns a positive reputation. It in turn translates into positive cash flow. There is a correlation.

How do we measure it? Is there a way to make it truly apparent? Start with what happens when the brand is not a valued asset inside the organization.

• the vision, mission and value statements read like those of just about any other company and nobody can possibly see how they come alive, how people live them;
• every business is a silo. It develops products or services in a vacuum, and articulates what the company does differently. There is no central core to vet new products and services against;
• the marketplace is quite confused about what it is that you deliver. There is no brand promise to fulfill, to rally around, to make decisions by;
• there is no compelling reason why or unifying idea behind why a business is in business;
• a line item that contains activities around branding is the first to be cut into oblivion, and with it potentially the company. Did I mention that there are so many choices today?

You know that these symptoms tend to seep outside the confines of the organization. We're in a connected marketplace. When we buy anything at all, we sign up to join a story. The story could be that of using the cheapest toothpaste or most convenient store, but make no mistake - we make decisions and trade offs based on brand stories and experiences all the time. 

I like the idea of exercising, but I do not like gyms - they are noisy, crowded, sometimes hardly clean and expensive. My return on effort is not there. And I do not like paying annual fees on top of monthly fees with no guarantee that I will be able to use the equipment I want, when I want it. Recently I started taking Pilates classes.

The place where I go offers the right kind of environment for me. The largest crowd you'd ever have is 5 people so the instructors have plenty of opportunity to help everyone. You book a machine online ahead of time, the hours are flexible, and the fee is flat per month - you go as many times as you can/want. The brand experience is: personable, flexible, convenient, and fun. Oh, and the reason why you'd go? It promises to make you fit, I am already seeing the results.

Do you have a brand matters story? Today at Fast Company I discuss how cost cutting choices are cutting brands short.

Now you know what to look out for and have your example in mind. How do you calculate brand value?

According to Interbrand, it is at the intersection of brand strength analysis and the role of brand analysis. You take the benchmark of your brand's ability to secure ongoing customer demand (loyalty, repurchase/reconsideration, retention) and reference that to the measure of how the brand influences customer demand.

To calculate the value, Interbrand uses financial forecasting - branded revenues minus operating costs, taxes and capital to get to intangible earnings. To separate the role of branding from things such as R&D and management expertise, they use an analytical framework. In B2B, the brand is usually one purchase driver among many. This is expressed as a percentage.

The assessment of brand strength determines the specific risk of the brand. The net present value of the forecast brand earnings discounted by the time value of money and the risk that the forecast earnings will materialize. Interbrand refers to a wide array of primary and secondary sources that are applicable to each brand. These include amongst others; Datamonitor, ACNielsen, Gartner, Hall & Partners, etc. in addition to a network of brand valuation experts. More in the report.

If this sounds fairly complicated, go back to how hard it is to explain to the organization that people do not want to buy your products or services because your brand experience and reputation are poor.

"When the value of a brand is recognized by its owner, the brand strategy becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Comments

[Mads Kristensen]

I'm thinking that looking at brands and customers ongoing and loyal affinity for brands could somehow be compared to sports teams and fans, where we see lifelong devotion.

Any thoughts on that angle?

[Brice Blaisdell]

Once again, you remind me why I look forward to reading your blog each day. Great stuff. I frequently encounter clients who do not truly understand and value their brand, especially as it relates to all of the the assets outside of "the marketing dept." It's part of my job to help them see and actualize this value. Thanks for providing more reasoned, insightful thinking for our cause.

[Ricardo Bueno]

This might seem obvious to some but what I learned last year is that even very small brands have the ability to become amazingly successful at creating something "big" of themselves with a little "good" brand experience. The trick is doing it consistently in order to build that reputation and then leveraging it...

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Mads - maybe. The reason why I am saying that is because some brands do not scale with our life changes. I am thinking even about mundane things like insurance. What if the company you insure with does not offer a kind of coverage you need? Great brands with personality are not all things to all people. But people change, too. What are your thoughts?

@Brice - you are very kind. We tend to take our own brand for granted. A brand is much larger than communications or marketing activities.

@Ricardo - online is a great equalizer, too. A small business that provides great service and has personality has the opportunity to make it shine.

[NW Guy]

Valeria,

Spot on; and it came the same day I was reading about someone "mocking" a brand. Let me digress a little about American football and their fans.

A writer was disgusted about the mission statement of the Cleveland Browns - "The sign on the door says Cleveland". Given their history, and the loyalty of fans to Midwest football this has meaning to everybody that walks through the turnstile. They could use it in the bar when they discuss the team.

A brand/mission very true to the product.

I'm sure that your Euro football fans could easily relate.

Thanks again for the great stories.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Bruce:

Some of the most heated and passionate discussions I've ever witnessed were on Euro football teams! Brands that are true to themselves win. It's as simple as that.

[Mads Kristensen]

@Valeria: What is the thought about fan-culture was a reciprocal one? What if companies became fans of their customers? Wouldn't they go the extra mile in order to secure lifelong loyalty? I could actually see this in insurance given that insurance is about safety and caring (sort of anyway). I need to think more about it, I think.

[Gordon Whitehead]

I would to thank Valeria and everyone who posted a comment for making Saturday morning coffee a lot more enjoyable. A good read and discussion.

P.S. Go Everton...

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Mads - Companies are entities, so no fandom in there. However, the people who work inside organizations can and would spread the love. On one condition - that they feel the love themselves. One of the most critical and least appreciated roles in firms is that of the missionary inside the company walls. All the work we ever do starts inside. It's true personally as it's true of groups.

@Gordon - thank you for the kind words. I used to be a Juventus fan - a looong time ago. About the time many where on the team that won Italy the world cup - Zoff, Rossi, Cabrini. What a team that was!

[Mads Kristensen]

@Valeria: I actually do think companies can have a fan-like culture towards their customers, if they dare make the transition. With all the abundance of choice, I think truly caring about the customers of your business is going to be a key differentiator. Someone will have to set the pace though.