When we discussed storefronts in our last article, we mentioned that one of their key advantages is “brand protection” i.e. the on-line templates in the Web to print solution will be pre-agreed and impossible to modify without the correct authority. Thus logos, fonts, colours etc. – all very carefully designed by the marketing departments – will be unassailable.
At the purely visual level, of course, this is important – for consistency, recognition, awareness, reinforcing messages and so on. But there is so much more to a brand than this! Let’s look at a few examples.
The BP logo
Here are the old and new logos:
and you can immediately see – or perhaps sense – that the new one somehow seems more environmentally friendly and “clean”. Which is exactly what they intended.
Volkswagen
This is of course very topical at the time of writing this article, due to the emissions scandal that hit the company in recent weeks. In just two days, the company’s share price plunged by 37% – wiping £18 billion off its value – and in the US alone the Environmental Protection Agency has the power to fine the manufacturer up to £11.7 billion … ON TOP OF WHICH there could be fines from the US Department of Justice if it brings criminal charges, as well as civil court cases from the millions of car buyers who thought they were buying environmentally friendly vehicles.
So when people think “Volkswagen” now, are they thinking of a manufacturer they can trust?
Brand values – the top 10 most valuable
At the time of writing, this is the list of the world’s most powerful brands by value:
- Apple $145.3 billion
- Microsoft $69.3 billion
- Google $65.6 billion
- Coca-Cola $56 billion
- IBM $49.8 billion
- McDonald’s $39.5 billion
- Samsung $37.9 billion
- Toyota $37.8 billion
- General Electric $37.5 billion
- Facebook $36.5 billion
Some huge numbers there – but what exactly do we mean by the term “brand value”? It’s often considered to be the net present value of the estimated future cash flows attributable to the brand. Note that a brand can be an intangible asset, used to rationalise the variation between a company’s “book value” and its market value. For example, groundbreaking research conducted by Brand Finance demonstrated that 62% of the world’s business is now intangible: this represents $19.5 trillion of $31.6 trillion global market value.
Brand value in the case of consumer product brands can be measured through customer loyalty, staff retention/recruitment etc. – and can be influenced positively and negatively (think Volkswagen again).
Another definition is the financial value of having customers who will pay more for a particular brand … and now we’re getting to it. Brand value can be created – and enhanced – by making products or services memorable, superior in quality, reliability, and service … and easily recognisable.
So you see we’re back to those pre-agreed templates in our Web to print storefront again …
Web to print experts
There’s a lot more to the topic than brand protection – as we’ll see in future articles – and we can give you solid and pragmatic advice on all areas. If you would like more information then please click here for a direct link to our home page, here for our contact page, or call us any time on 020 8031 0840
and we will be delighted to help you.