Turn your vision into a brand

A brand can be described as many things, but put most simply, it’s what people say about you when you leave the room. Louise Kelly explains how to measure your brand value to get results.

YOUR BRAND IS HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE YOU. It dictates their behaviour towards you and how much they value you.

In today’s marketplace, your brand is so much more than just your logo or marketing strategy. It’s the way you do business, your service offering, your customers’ experiences and how you build relationships. The Marketing Leadership Council of America goes so far as to define a brand strategy as a growth strategy.

Think of your brand as your customer strategy; it is everything you do that creates value in the lives and minds of your customers.

Some people think brands are fluffy and can’t be measured, but nothing could be further from the truth. For many companies, their brand is their most valuable asset, and measuring its value is essential.

There are many ways to estimate brand value. At our company Hearts and Minds, we like to keep it simple. A valuable brand drives customers to you, and is worth more than the expense of delivering your goods and services. By assessing your brand value throughout the course of a year, you can gauge how you are being perceived in the marketplace.

Calculate your brand across a 12-month period:

1. Calculate the gross profi t from products and services (your revenue less the cost of sales)
2. Deduct your operating costs (recurring expenses, including overheads and marketing)
3. Deduct depreciation
4. Deduct applicable taxes
5. Deduct financing costs
6. Deduct capital charge (the capital employed in the business multiplied by the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC): the average cost of your debt and equity funding

The most powerful brands are valued at between 25 and 60% of their market capitalisation, according to Interbrand, a company that annually values and rates the world’s most valuable brands.

In the most recent Interbrand Report, Coca Cola’s brand was measured at $67,000 million, making it the global leader. The biggest growth in brand value included two New Media companies, Google and eBay. Google’s brand value increased 46% to $12,376 million, while eBay was $6,755 million, an increase of 18%. Starbucks, which dared to make something as everyday as coff ee a remarkable experience, had a brand value of $3,099 million and had increased 20% in value.

Most business failure comes from failure to execute; businesses that can’t ‘walk their talk’. Walking the talk means turning your vision into action. Getting buy-in to your vision, from both customers and employees, is how a valuable brand is created. Brands create perceptions that drive behaviour that get results.

RESOURCES:

Measure your brand value
Hearts and Minds website, with more information about Louise Kelly's strategy consultancy

Table of brand elements
The Kolbrener table of the essential elements of your brand

Marketing
Tips for putting a marketing strategy into place.

Marketing your business
Points to help with developing a marketing strategy.

Marketing
How to go about the marketing process.

Marketing your business
A guide examining what's involved in marketing, including a section on how to prepare a marketing plan.

Writing a marketing plan
A sample marketing plan to help your prepare and write your own.

Marketing
Deals with the key marketing principles.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Measure your brand value: Hearts & Minds brand value tool