How strong is your company’s brand? An ISO standard can help tell you

A powerful brand can differentiate a company in the marketplace and significantly contribute to its financial performance. But as an intangible asset, it is difficult to measure its exact monetary value. A new standard, ISO 10668:2010, Brand valuation – Requirements for monetary brand valuation, outlines consistent and transparent procedures and methods for measuring how much a brand is worth.

Brands include the names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, etc. that identify goods, services and entities.

“Brands, like many other intangible assets, are highly valued properties,” says Christopher Scholz, Chair of the ISO project committee that developed the standard. “They are used to create distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders to help a company stand out in the marketplace, and to communicate and engage with their customers. Yet they are a little understood asset.

“For a long time companies have struggled to determine the actual impact and value of their brand. ISO 10668 is an important step forward for the industry.”

The standard guides users through a globally harmonized three-tiered analysis focusing on financial, legal and behavioural aspects. Examples include the legal rights and protection of a brand, market size and trends, its effect on purchase choices and the different attitudes of stakeholders towards the brand.

The standard specifies a framework with objectives, bases, approaches and methods of valuation, and sourcing of quality data and assumptions. It also provides methods for reporting results.

Mr. Scholz comments, “The comprehensive three element analysis introduced in ISO 10668 builds a reliable picture of a brand’s value. An added benefit is that it allows companies around the world to measure the economic value of their brands using the same reliable guidelines developed with by global experts in the field.”

ISO 10668:2010, Brand valuation – Requirements for monetary brand valuation, was prepared by project committee ISO/PC 231, Brand valuation, and is available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list with contact details). It may also be obtained directly from the ISO Central Secretariat, price 74 Swiss francs through the ISO Store or by contacting the Marketing, Communication & Information department (see right-hand column).