If you have never heard of Interbrand, they publish a yearly report that identifies the 100 best global brands based off of value. To develop the report, Interbrand examines three key aspects that contribute to a brand’s value:
- The financial performance of the branded products or service
- The role the brand plays in influencing consumer choice
- The strength the brand has to command a premium price, or secure earnings for the company
As you can see from the image above, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola round out the 2019 top five global brands. Coincidentally, you can see that in the Top 10, Coca-Cola is the only one that has declined since last year’s ranking. Identified in their methodology, Interbrand discusses the importance of brand valuation: “Having pioneered brand valuation in 1988, Interbrand has a deep understanding of the impact a strong brand has on key stakeholder groups that influence the growth your business, namely (current and prospective) customers, employees, and investors. Strong brands influence customer choice and create loyalty; attract, retain, and motivate talent; and lower the cost of financing. Our brand valuation methodology has been specifically designed to take all of these factors into account.” Interbrand’s methodology is also the first of its kind to be ISO certified.
Branding is a critical factor in the inception of a company or an idea. This is why The Social Media Magnet put branding right up front and center of our online textbook. We jump right into the process of creating a brand with our students so that they can try to conceptualize their practicum brand as best as possible. We stress our four primary components of branding, including: 1) Brand Story, 2) Brand Promises, 3) Brand Beliefs, and 4) Brand Trust. Early exercises challenge our students to choose a topic and brand it accordingly, before they purchase their web domains. From these early assignments, they start crafting and re-crafting the brand narrative for a month, until they launch their course practicum. In reality, they never truly stop working on this story throughout the entire semester. It is the basis for which our Social Media Magnet Theory is grounded.
If you are a college professor and would like to read more about how our theory and practicum work together to provide an outstanding learning experience for your students, click here to request our full white paper. For more information about the courseware and how to get a free preview, visit our Professor Overview.
Note: For a complete review of Interbrand’s methodology, click here.