Growing brand value to drive business performance offers a cost-effective way to gaining a better understanding of a company’s position against competitors.
Ranking a brand is not a simple activity. Worldwide, there are many institutes and forums which carry out the exercise of ranking various brands. Today, with the popularity of social media, it has become relatively fast and easy to carry out surveys on brand rankings. Brands can be rated on different criteria, with the help of consumers, key stakeholders and experts. Brands can continuously improve in comparison to similar products, learn from best practices and take good notice of relevant developments and requirements. Therefore, the standards on which they are rated will get higher over time.
Building BlocksHere are a few ways in which powerful brands can be leveraged:
1. Creating a large international movement and a well-designed tool to be used by and for consumers. Stakeholders can assess and compare policies and performance of brands on sustainability and social responsibility, and evaluate commitments about the products or service.
2. Creating pressure on brands through consumers, media and competitors to continuously improve their policies and performance on the parameters decided and to do it in a completely transparent way.
3. Increasing awareness among consumers of their responsibility and influence on brands, value as perceived of the brand.Cement Brands on the World Map
Brand Finance’s Brand Value Report provides a complete breakdown of the assumptions, data sources and calculations used to arrive at a brand’s value. Each report includes expert recommendations for growing brand value to drive business performance and offers a cost-effective way to gaining a better understanding of a company’s position against competitors.Brand Finance also studies the following areas:
Brand Valuation Summary: Overview of the brand valuation including executive summary, explanation of changes in brand value and historic and peer group comparisons.Brand Strength Index: A breakdown of how the brand performed on various metrics of brand strength, benchmarked against competitor brands in a balanced scorecard framework.Royalty Rates: Analysis of competitor royalty rates, industry royalty rate ranges and margin analysis used to determine brand specific royalty rate.Cost of Capital: A breakdown of the cost of capital calculation, including risk-free rates, brand debt risk premiums and the cost of equity through CAPM.Trademark Audit: Analysis of the current level of protection for the brand’s word marks and trademark iconography, highlighting areas where the marks are in need of protection.
The report of the firm for the year 2015 included Holcim (378), Lafarge (404) and CEMEX (494) in the list of 500 brands (the figure in the bracket shows at which number these companies stand in the brand hierarchy).
The other popular global ranking firm is Interbrand. It is a global brand agency, and publisher of the highly influential annual Best Global Brands and Breakthrough Brands reports. Interbrand is part of the Omnicom Group Inc network of agencies. Cement companies do not appear in its list.
Interbrand publishes the Best Global Brands report on an annual basis. The report identifies the world’s 100 most valuable brands. Interbrand’s methodology is also the first of its kind to be ISO certified. To develop the report, Interbrand examines three key aspects that contribute to a brand’s value:
- The financial performance of the branded products or service
- The role the brand plays in influencing consumer choice
- The strength the brand has to command a premium price, or secure earnings for the company.
The third reputed agency is Forbes. It is an American business magazine, with reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, and law. The magazine is well known for its lists and rankings, including its lists of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400) and rankings of the world’s top companies (the Forbes Global 2000). However, its list does not include cement companies.