Experts Advise Avoiding the Brand Valuation Trap

Brand valuation is regarded by many marketers as providing the definitive proof of the business value of marketing. But a new article cautions marketers that using the current brand valuation surveys as proof of the value of marketing is a strategy that will surely backfire. The article, titled "My Brand's Bigger Than Your Brand - How NOT to get Caught in the Brand Valuation Trap," by Pat LaPointe, Managing Partner at MarketingNPV and Jonathan Knowles, CEO of Type 2 Consulting is now available online at www.MarketingNPV.com.

Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) November 13, 2008 -- Brand valuation is regarded by many marketers as providing the definitive proof of the business value of marketing. But a new article cautions marketers that using the current brand valuation surveys as proof of the value of marketing is a strategy that will surely backfire. The article, titled "My Brand's Bigger Than Your Brand - How NOT to get Caught in the Brand Valuation Trap," by Pat LaPointe, Managing Partner at MarketingNPV and Jonathan Knowles, CEO of Type 2 Consulting is now available online at www.MarketingNPV.com.

Brand valuation and rankings are attractive to marketers looking to justify their marketing budgets and marketing resource allocation. But upon reviewing the methodologies of the top three valuation agencies, LaPointe and Knowles discovered that not only are the agencies' methodologies open to subjective interpretation, but they also overlook the bigger challenge; namely that the brand valuation differences may be more a reflection of the fundamental differences in opinions regarding the relative importance of brands within different industry sectors.

My Brand's Bigger Than Your Brand - How NOT to get Caught in the Brand Valuation Trap

My Brand's Bigger Than Your Brand - How NOT to get Caught in the Brand Valuation Trap

The lack of consistency across agencies might be expected when looking at a single brand in any given year

But there is also a lack of agreement across agencies as to whether the value of a given brand had risen or fallen over the previous year.

This is further evidence that brand valuation is not yet the 'silver bullet' of marketing accountability many marketers hope for, and likely won't be so until such a time as there is a generally agreed upon approach to brand valuation that will deliver at least directionally consistent results.

Adds Knowles, "This is further evidence that brand valuation is not yet the 'silver bullet' of marketing accountability many marketers hope for, and likely won't be so until such a time as there is a generally agreed upon approach to brand valuation that will deliver at least directionally consistent results."

Both LaPointe and Knowles agree that, given the host of factors beyond marketers' control, using brand valuation as a mechanism to measure marketing effectiveness or marketing's ROI is potentially career-threatening for the CMO. Consequently, they recommend marketers focus on measuring the contribution of marketing to positive cash-flow changes. Especially in the current economic environment, the importance of credibly measuring the tangible aspects of the payback on marketing rises in the eyes of CEOs and CFOs alike.

The complete article can be viewed online at:
http://www.marketingnpv.com/articles/features/My_Brand_Bigger_Than_Your_Brand_How_NOT_to_Get_Caught_in_the_Brand_Valuation_Trap

MarketingNPV (www.MarketingNPV.com) is a highly specialized advisory firm that links marketing expenditures to financial value creation, providing continuous improvement in the effective and efficient allocation of marketing resources. The firm uses processes and tools tuned to measure the payback on marketing investments, track the right performance metrics, and forecast the economic impact of changes in strategy or tactics. MarketingNPV maintains the world's largest online archive of articles and resources about marketing measurement, and publishes MarketingNPV Journal quarterly.

Type 2 Consulting (www.Type2Consulting.com) advises companies on how to use branding to enhance their overall business performance. The firm specializes in brand strategy for corporate and service brands, and has particular expertise in working with privately-held businesses. Type 2 Consulting places heavy emphasis on being at the forefront of thinking on the topics most relevant to the business impact of branding.

Contact:
Tina Anagnostis
(908) 439-2891

###

Post Comment:
Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/Q3Jhcy1Qcm9mLUxvdmUtTWFnbi1UaGlyLVNpbmctWmVybw==

brand valuation brand value value of brand determining value of brand marketing metrics marketing dashboards marketing dashboard marketing scorecard marketing scorecards marketing budget marketing budgeting

Bookmark -  Del.icio.us | Furl It | Technorati | Ask | MyWeb | Propeller | Live Bookmarks | Newsvine | TailRank | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Stumbleupon | Google Bookmarks | Sphere | Blink It | Spurl