frequently asked questions
what are intangible assets?
What doesn’t show up on your balance sheet but are the main drivers of your business – they include the knowledge, skills and experience of your staff, patents, databases and systems but most important of all is what accountants call “relational capital” – the value of your relationships with customers, suppliers and allies and this is what we call brand value.
what is a brand?
Well it’s more than just name awareness in the market – a brand represents premium value because it is what consumers of your product or service choose to buy for rational or emotional reasons, even though a cheaper alternative is readily available. By this measure there are few brands in any market. Knowing the reasons for the strength of your brand will help you increase the value of your business.
aren’t all well-known brands valuable?
A recent Sunday Times survey amongst experts and customers rated companies such as Microsoft, BBC, Google, Heinz and Sony as top brand names. But this analysis relies heavily on simple name awareness driven by advertising – bravo is a more robust and reliable method for measuring not only brand strength but also brand equity value.
what is the bravo approach?
Basically bravo involves primary market research to evaluate brand strength and then this measure of brand strength can be used to derive a brand price/earnings multiple for the whole or part of the business and this “brand multiple” can be used to indicate a brand value for the business.
can I commission just a brand strength survey?
Yes, many companies and investors simply want to use bravo to get an independent assessment of how their product or service is rated in the market and how it compares with other competing brands. This analysis provides guidance on how you can best target and allocate your marketing and promotional budget to increase your “brand” rating.
how long does the process take?
This very much depends on the nature and market coverage of your business. For example whether you are a B2B or B2C business will determine the size of the research sample we need to employ to measure brand strength and we then need to do some desk research to model your brand value. As a guide a schedule of between 6-8 weeks would not be uncommon for a UK only based business.
how disruptive is the process to my business?
bravo is non-invasive and will not tie up your valuable resources. There is some basic information that you will be required to provide at the beginning and the process will require a sponsor but we will not disrupt the day to day running of your business.
can I influence the market research?
bravo is a model which allows some flexibility in both the nature and relative weighting of the questions used to ascertain brand strength. This flexibility is designed into the model to ensure that the outcomes are relevant and comparable and both questionnaire and customer target selection criteria are discussed and agreed with the client in advance.
how much does it all cost?
This is very difficult to estimate in advance of a briefing meeting to clarify product/service/geographical coverage, sample size and whether we are focusing on brand strength, valuation or both. But once agreed bravo is a fixed-price service billable in two equal instalments – on commission and on delivery of the results. Overall, bravo is a justifiable cost to the business.
