You can’t see it, but you better believe it.

Brand is an asset. While it is intangible, manage it as you would any asset. It must be maintained and invested in. Commit to building your brand as an asset from the beginning and over time. You will realize better and sustained market performance and higher enterprise value. When it’s time to exit, you will realize a significantly higher transaction multiple.  

The fact is, your brand is the most visible and valuable asset you own, experienced across all points of touch. However, despite being so important, most brands are off balance sheet vs. tangible assets such as plant and equipment, which are far less valuable.

Brands take time to grow value. However, in today’s digitally accelerating world, brand velocity has dramatically increased, allowing brands to grow intangible equity rapidly. And strong brands make money. For example, back in 2008, Brand Master Kevin Keller noted in his book, Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, that PepsiCo had a tangible book value of $6.5B but had a market cap of over $90B. Keller attributes about $83 billion of that market valuation to intangible assets, and more specifically, to PepsiCo’s brand equity.  

While this is easier to see in the capital markets where the delta between book and cap value is easily seen, it is often invisible for smaller businesses. But you must be a brand believer because the power of brand and its intangible equity provides all the benefits to businesses of all sizes.

Key piece of advice? Make building brand equity a standard operation philosophy, a non-discretionary cost of doing business. Be a brand believer.