· Brand Value fell from US$33 billion in 2008 to US$2 billion in 2014
· The decline has been halted however and a strong recovery is in progress
· Brand value is up 37% on 2015 to a total of US$3 billion
Every year, leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance analyses thousands of the world’s top brands. They are evaluated and ranked to determine which are the most powerful and the most valuable. For the first time Brand Finance has created a league table of Finland’s most valuable brands, the Brand Finance Finland 10.
A remarkable turnaround in Nokia’s fortunes is the most striking finding. Nokia’s brand value has been in decline for years as consumers abandoned its handsets for smartphones and its belated attempt to update its hardware failed to inspire. Brand value peaked in 2008 at US$33 billion, making it the world’s 9th most valuable brand, but this was soon followed by a precipitous decline to US$2 billion in 2014.
President of Nokia technologies, Ramzi Haidamus, clearly had a firm grasp of the situation and the role of brand in turning Nokia’s fortunes around. He was quoted as saying “We have a very valuable brand, yet it is diminishing in value and that’s why it is important that we reverse that trend very quickly, imminently.” Nokia has managed to do just that, with brand value up 37% from US$2.2 billion in 2015 to US$3 billion this year.
The sale of Nokia’s unprofitable handset division has clearly allowed the firm to focus on the things it does best. Profitable network equipment producing division Nokia Networks has signed major deals with the likes of China Mobile and goes from strength to strength. A new strategy, based on licensing the brand and other IP to third parties has been initiated, leading to the creation of devices such as the N1 tablet, manufactured by Foxconn. Meanwhile, the recently finalised merger with Alcatel-Lucent has established a solid foundation for continued growth.
Brand Finance CEO David Haigh comments, “Just a few years ago Nokia was described as a ‘burning platform’. The fires have clearly been put out and Finland’s most valuable brand seems to have a bright future.”
Kone and If take second and third places. Elevator and escalator brand Kone lost 13% of its brand value. After great success in the past decade, Kone’s struggles this year can largely be attributed to the slowdown in the Chinese market, its leading source of revenue. In order to reverse this slowdown, Kone will have to carefully leverage its brand to derive revenues from maintenance if new equipment sales to maintenance remain suppressed.
Insurance firm, If, has been more successful, increasing its brand value 14% to US$1.13 billion having strengthened its market position through organic growth and selective acquisitions.
ENDS
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Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance for more than 25 years, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organizations of all kinds make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 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 over 5,000 brands, surveying more than 150,000 respondents across 38 countries and 31 industry sectors. Combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database enables Brand Finance to arm brand leaders with the data and analytics they need to enhance brand and business value.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm, leading the standardization 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.
