Companies like Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Xerox, Heinz,
Apple and Gillette possess great brands and outstanding
brand management competencies, yet they have failed to
generate value for shareholders in recent years. What
these companies are learning is that having strong
brands which consumers value is not enough. Whether
strong brands create value for shareholders depends upon
the economics of the markets in which they operate and
the strategies managers pursue. By underestimating
shareholder value dynamics, marketing managers risk
misallocating resources and handicapping the firm’s
opportunities to move into new markets and find new,
more profitable, growth opportunities.
This paper looks at how brands contribute to the firm’s
strategy and how brand planning needs to be geared to
market economics and management’s central objective of
creating shareholder value. pdf
