Brand valuation techniques originally developed in response to mergers and acquisitions activity: valuing the brands owned by a company to help calculate the true value of the business.

Since then other applications of brand valuation have developed into important strategic management techniques.

Here are the seven key applications of brand valuation:

External investor relations
Mergers and acquisitions were the original driving force for brand valuation. Now many successful companies use brand valuation as an ongoing business performance indicator: to help ensure that brand strength is reflected in share value. (And in many markets the relevant accounting standards allow brands to be shown as assets on the balance sheet.)

 

Internal marketing management
Brand valuation is increasingly being used as a management tool in leading organizations. For example: brand valuation figures can be used to evaluate new product and market development opportunities, to set business objectives, allocate budgets and to help measure performance and reward staff.

Internal royalty rates
Across a large organization there may be many affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions that make use of any particular brand. As the profit potential of brands becomes more clearly understood more companies are charging royalties, across their business operations, for the use of these brand assets.

Licensing and franchising
Where companies allow outside organizations to use their brand, on a licensing or franchising basis, a brand valuation can lay the foundation for appropriate charges.

Tax planning
As the management of brands as financial assets becomes more sophisticated, so tax authorities around the world have started to take an interest in how these assets are managed. The result is that more and more international organizations are planning the most cost-effective domicile for their brand portfolios and are organizing their tax affairs with their brands in mind.

Securitized borrowing
Even in the conservative world of banking, the asset value of brands has been recognized. As a result brands have been used to secure loans, especially in the US, where companies such as Disney have borrowed significant amounts of money against their brand name.

Litigation support
Brand valuations have been used to support litigation against the illegal use of a brand name (as a basis for calculating damages, for example) and also in cases of receivership, to prevent the assets of the business being undervalued.