There is something mysterious behind the intangible characteristic of a brand. I spent two uncomfortable days after the last edition of the Grammy’s because the artists I was rooting for, did not get the awards I thought they deserved. What’s there for me to gain if they win the award? Not much really. When I think of these artists like products or brands, why do they evoke so much loyalty from me if I have nothing to gain?
There has to be a way to measure that intangible characteristic, after all it was so real that I felt it while watching the Grammy’s this year. I knew there was. I had recently studied the different methods being used to measure the outcomes of Brand Equity, and discovered that “there is no one universally agreed-upon approach”, according to Keller’s Strategic Brand Management Book (Chapter 10). He goes on to explain that “is impossible to reduce the richness of a brand to a single, meaningful number, and that any formula that tries to do so is an abstraction and arbitrary”.
And I could have stayed calm if I knew that the brand valuation would just stop with me rooting for artists at the Grammy’s, but it was not like that. The Valuation Approach places for example, the brand on the balance sheet, and the book goes on to tell the story of how Rupert Murdoch (Australian Media Mogul and CEO of Fox News) built a media empire by taking advantage of the standards in Australia when it came to placing the Brand Value in the accounting sheet to get the cash he needed to build his empire and buy foreign media companies.
There may not be a universally accepted approach when measuring the value of a brand, as Keller mentioned, but I do believe that given the nature of our globalize businesses and interests there should be a global regulation when it comes to deciding who is able to put the brand value in the balance sheet, to get cash and acquire media in foreign countries especially if the goal is to affect the perceptions and outcomes in politics, and the future of other nations. Competition is always good, but it should be done following the same rules and arbitration, otherwise our own culture and values might be at risk and the damage might be irreversible once we decide to take action.
To curtail my unexpected emotions after The Grammy’s and a good dose of Branding Equity Valuation, I decided to disconnect and crank “This is America” by Childish Gambino in my Music System, but I didn’t… I decided to play “The Joke” by Brandi Carlile. I needed a new brand, at least for today. At least, until I’m able to decide how to measure those intangible characteristics I felt and prepare for the next night of awards.
STATUS: Did the 2019 Grammy’s break your heart? Despair no more. You are not lost and alone trying to make sense of your branding emotions.
“O God! A beast, that wants discourse of reason” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
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