| EVENT REVIEW
Brand to be 'key business metric' in next decade
The third Australian Marketing Institute Brand Finance Forum took place on 17 August, where an exceptional panel of speakers addressed the topic of ‘Managing the Value of Brands and Corporate Reputation’.
The event was chaired by David Haigh, the CEO of Brand Finance PLC, who commented on the links between company actions, brand equity, stakeholder behaviour and business value. David used the example of Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury to emphasise the importance of companies communicating the value of their brands to investors. He identified the importance of the new International Standard on brand valuation (ISO TC231). This provides a consistent, reliable approach to brand valuation and integrates financial, behavioural and legal inputs.
Jerry Maycock spoke about maximising brand value during a corporate restructure, using CSR’s recent restructure and rebranding of its sugar business as Sucrogen as a case study. Jerry was CEO of CSR until April and provided a fascinating insight into the risk management and cultural change aspects of the branding considerations of the restructure.
Stephen Porges, CEO of Aussie Home Loans, opened with a quote that brand was going to be the key business metric in the next decade. The fact that the statement was made by a risk management expert confirmed that the importance of brands is appreciated by a growing range of stakeholders. Stephen referred to the flight to quality caused by the global financial crisis (GFC) in Australian financial services and identified branding issues in the post-GFC world, particularly the impact of social media and the need for authenticity.
Keith Bishop, the General Manager of Marketing Strategy at OneSteel, focused on B2B branding and the approach to brand architecture adopted by OneSteel. Keith provided an insight into the key characteristics of B2B branding. Of particular interest was the company’s IP Steering Committee, which integrates legal and marketing expertise to protect and develop the value of OneSteel’s intellectual property.
The theme of Professor John Roberts’ presentation was managing the balance between the benefits that marketing assets provide to customers and the benefits that they generate for the company. John stressed the need to clarify the strategic role of each brand in a portfolio before evaluating its performance. He concluded by providing a preview of the research on metrics employed by participants on the Australian Marketing Institute’s dashboard system, which forms part of marketingvalue.com.au. This quantified the importance placed on a range of marketing metrics by marketing practitioners in comparison to the recommendations provided by the dashboard system. The final results of this important research will be provided to members later in the year
Justin Milne, former Group Managing Director of Telstra Media, commented on the impact of digital media, particularly the extent and speed with which brands can be enhanced or damaged by the word of mouth possible on social networks. Justin stressed the importance of brand authenticity in a world of savvy, connected consumers.
The two panel discussions provided the audience with an opportunity to discuss these issues with the speakers, who were joined by Anthony Roberts, MD of Lion Nathan’s wine business, and Ian Goss, the General Manager of Business Development and Strategy Group at IP Australia.
Seen at the Brand Finance Forum ... |
