Consumer 1 : City 0

My first blog article, Jobs Aren't For Life. Neither Are Brands, picked up an issue raised in the book, The Brand Bubble. That city valuation of the intangible brand had risen six-fold in the last 10 years - from an average 5% to 30% of a company's valuation. During this same period, consumer valuation of brands has fallen quite markedly. Brand trust today is half what it was 10 years ago. Well the bubble did burst. The consumer, it seems, was right not to trust some brands. And we find ourselves with the task of rebuilding both brand trust and share price.

In the past, successes of a few, like Google, have had a halo effect on all share prices. But as the bubble burst, plummeting trust levels of financial brands were closely and visibly linked with plummeting share prices. For the first time, brand trust = brand value. As we come out of the current dip, the shares which recover fastest may well be businesses and brands with a proven advantage, clear point of difference and stable trust levels. Chastened, more careful investors will look a bit closer at what a brand really offers before deciding which shares represent a good investment.

Download a pdf summary of The Brand Bubble here.

Jobs aren't for life. Neither are brands.

Every UK high street has a newly empty retail outlet for rent. It still bears the familiar red Woolworths banner and hastily pencilled goodbye note from now redundant staff to the all too few customers. It’s a brand we grew up with, and it has gone.

Jobs aren’t for life anymore. Neither it seems are brands. We no longer expect to serve our whole career in the same company and bid fond farewells, gold watch in hand. Maybe times are changing for brands too now. 2008 showed that even very established brands fail when competitive edge becomes hazy and debt rises too high. The warning signs were there, we just didn't heed them. Word spreads faster in the new economy. Falls from grace will likely be more commonplace, and when they happen they will happen quickly.

John Gerzema points out a real issue in his book, The Brand Bubble. Stock markets place ever increasing value on the intangible element of brands. Tracking metrics show that consumers are placing less value on these same brands. Less trust. Less respect. Less differentiation. This has big implications across all markets. For service providers, manufacturers and retailers. Shareholders and pension funds. CEOs, FDs and marketers. Is it time to put the branded business model in for an MOT?