Laurence Newell appointed Executive Chairman, Americas; Alfred DuPuy named Managing Director, North America
LONDON, 2 March 2026 – Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy, today announces two senior leadership appointments in the Americas, reflecting the firm’s continued growth and ambitious expansion plans across the region.
Laurence Newell, currently Managing Director, Americas, will assume the role of Executive Chairman, Americas. In this new capacity, Laurence will focus on strategic development, deepening senior client relationships, and supporting the long-term expansion of Brand Finance’s presence across North and Latin America.
Alfred DuPuy has been appointed Managing Director, North America, succeeding Laurence in leading the firm’s operations in the region. Alfred previously served as Valuation & Strategy Director for North America, where he played a pivotal role in expanding Brand Finance’s client base and strengthening its advisory capabilities.
These appointments follow a period of sustained growth and success for Brand Finance in the Americas, as demand from organisations seeking to better understand and leverage the financial value of their brands has increased.
Mike Rocha, Managing Director, Europe & Americas at Brand Finance, commented:
“Laurence and Alfred have been instrumental in driving the impressive growth of our Americas business. Their leadership reflects the increasing importance of robust brand valuation and strategy in today’s economic environment. As companies navigate heightened scrutiny on marketing investment and intangible value, Brand Finance’s mission to bridge the gap between marketing and finance has never been more relevant to North American CMOs and CFOs. These appointments position us strongly to support the next stage of growth in the region.”
Laurence Newell, Executive Chairman, Americas, said:
“It has been a privilege to lead the Americas business through a period of significant expansion. I am proud of the team we have built and the trust we have earned from our clients. As Executive Chairman, I look forward to supporting our leadership team and deepening our strategic relationships as we continue to help organisations quantify and communicate the value of their brands.”
Alfred DuPuy, Managing Director, North America, added:
“Brand Finance is uniquely positioned at the intersection of marketing and finance. With brand value and other intangible assets playing an ever-greater role in corporate performance, our work is increasingly central to board-level decision-making. I am excited to lead our North American team as we build on our momentum and help clients unlock sustainable growth through better brand-led strategy.”
With ambitious growth plans across the Americas, Brand Finance remains committed to delivering world-class brand valuation, strategy, and analytics services that empower organisations to make better-informed business decisions.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
