View the full Brand Finance Finland 25 2023 report here
Nokia (brand value down 2% to EUR7.5 billion) maintains its position as Finland’s most valuable brand despite a marginal brand value reduction in 2023, according to a new report from leading brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance.
Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes over 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. Finland’s top 25 most valuable and strongest brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Finland 25 2023 ranking.
As with many other Finnish brands, Nokia has faced widespread challenges throughout the last year. Despite this, the brand has continued to build momentum in its private wireless business, maintain a reliable network, and see positive net sales growth for its Cloud and Network services offerings.
Anna Brolin, Managing Director, Brand Finance Nordics, commented:
“Despite extremely troublesome operating conditions throughout 2022, many Finnish brands have been able to carry over last year’s success and continue to grow brand value. This highlights the resilience of Finnish brands, as well as the positive impact that the Finnish transition towards a more sustainable future is having on delivering sustainable returns and value to stakeholders.
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on April 2. As voters fear rising public debt, a deep-seated concern in Finland, NCP leader Petteri Orpo’s messaging on fiscal discipline appears to have resonated with voters. Orpo said reversing an expected recession would be his focus. As 2023 is expected to be another challenging year for the world economy, it will be interesting to see if Finland’s strongest brands will continue to prove resilient.”
Neste’s brand value continued to grow at an impressive rate in 2023, up 27% to EUR2.8 billion. This makes it the second most valuable brand in Finland and means its brand value is now up 93% since 2020.
Utilities brand Fortum is the fastest growing Finnish brand, up 52% to a brand value of EUR952 million. This impressive growth has been achieved amid issues surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a subsequent change to Fortum’s operating environment. In late 2022, Fortum sold its stake in subsidiary energy company Uniper to the German State. Fortum’s controlled divestment from Russia, and exit from Uniper, has streamlined its brand. It is now moving forward by reviewing its strategy to focus on clean Nordic power generation as the core of its business.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. Compliant with ISO 20671, Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 100,000 respondents in 38 countries and across 31 sectors.
In its 140th year, telecoms brand Elisa (brand value up 14% to EUR1.4 billion) maintained its title as Finland’s strongest brand with a Brand Strength Index score of 87 out of 100. This earned it a corresponding AAA rating, the only such brand in the ranking to receive this status.
As part of its analysis, Brand Finance assesses the role that specific brand attributes play in driving overall brand value. One such attribute, growing rapidly in its significance, is sustainability. Brand Finance assesses how sustainable specific brands are perceived to be, represented by a ‘Sustainability Perceptions Score’ (SPS). The value that is linked to sustainability perceptions, the ‘Sustainability Perceptions Value’ (SPV), is then calculated for each brand.
Nokia has the highest Sustainability Perceptions Value of any US brand, EUR304 million. It is important to note that Nokia’s position at the top of the table is not an assessment of its overall sustainability performance. Instead, it highlights the value that Nokia has tied up in the sustainability perception of stakeholders.
View the full Brand Finance Finland 25 2023 report here
ENDS
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.
