Brand value increases across categories

Part 1 | Highlights Cross-Category Trends
6 Brands are 7 8
becoming
media
Brands increasingly are executing
the role formerly filled by traditional
media—organizing and reaching
audiences with relevant content.
That’s because the brand’s customer
data often is more targeted and
detailed than the mass-market
audience data of TV or print media.
Brand implications
This phenomenon is most apparent
in retail because retailers collect
and organize an enormous volume
of customer data that can be
monetized by creating content
relevant to an audience segment and
a sponsoring supplier. The apparel
category is experiencing a
similar phenomenon.
Example
While fashion brands still find it
important to advertise in industry
magazines, their own catalogs often
tell the brand story more extensively.
Some brands produce their own
fashion shows, broadcast in-store
or online.
The role of
reputation
is rising
Brands are attempting to restore
trust after it eroded in certain
categories, particularly financial
institutions. Corporate reputation
becomes more important as a way to
confer credibility.
Brand implications
After years of fracturing into sub
brands, some corporations are
promoting their brands under the
corporate umbrella of authority.
Corporate reputation is especially
important to fortify brands on topics
like environmental responsibility and
good citizenship.
Example
As the recent BrandZ report
titled RepZ discovered: strong
corporate reputation correlates with
high market share and improves
key brand metrics. And corporate
reputation and brand reputation
increasingly are one in the same.
Presence in
fast growing
markets is
imperative for
global brands
Even in a year of slowed economic
expansion in the fast growing
markets, it’s clear that brand
presence in these markets is no
longer optional for some categories.
Brand implications
There’s a correlation between
high brand value and presence in
fast growing markets. Presence
doesn’t assure high brand value, but
absence makes high value much
more difficult to achieve in some
categories. Being well represented in
fast growing markets helps brands
not only by driving sales, but also
by influencing higher assessments
of forward-looking earnings, which
can lift share prices. The full impact
requires being present, relevant and
well differentiated.
Example
Global presence especially drove
growth in categories such as luxury,
fast food and soft drinks.
9 The middle 10
The individual
gets squeezed
is the expert
Brands at the premium or price ends of the value
continuum present consumers with a clearer choice
than brands in the middle. When the value proposition
isn’t clear, it’s more difficult to persuade today’s
cautious consumer to purchase.
Brand implications
In today’s economy, brands that effectively make a
case for premium or value are better positioned than
those squeezed in the middle with a less well defined
reason for being and a limited story to tell. There’s a
market in the middle, but there’s little room for error.
Brands in the middle can’t be mediocre, at least not
for long.
Example
In apparel, most of the fast fashion brands and the
more premium brands improved in brand value, while
those appealing to the broad middle were more likely
to struggle.
Information is available everywhere, anytime to
everyone. The brand-customer conversation is among
equals. Brands and customers learn from each other.
Brands gain direction and co-creation possibilities.
Brand Implications
The brand-customer relationship becomes more of
a partnership. Comments on social media are fast,
direct, informative and inexpensive. Paying close
attention to these comments forges a closer brandcustomer
relationship and results in products and
services that more closely match customer desires.
Example
The sales rebound of the Detroit automakers resulted
from many factors, including a shift from exclusive
reliance on traditional media to a sophisticated
presence on social media.
14 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2013 15