Does your brand possess Energy? asks Rediff's Brand Asset Valuator

Young & Rubicam has launched a new metric, Brand Energy, to assess the value of brands in India under its tool, Brand Asset Valuator (BAV). BAV was launched in the US market in 2006, but now it has been launched in India, too.

BAV, a study which measures consumer perceptions of more than 35,000 brands in 44 countries, has been assessing brand equity since 1993 and evaluates more than 70 key brand measures independent of category and against the entire brandscape. In India, BAV measures the consumer perceptions of more than 1,200 brands across 12 cities since 1997, when it was launched in India. This current valuation is the third, after 1997 and 2003.

John Gerzema, global chief strategy officer, Y&R, says, "If company executives think that the company's brand survives only due to its brand equity, they are completely wrong. Today, brands, categories and consumers are fast moving, and energy is required to get a brand noticed. Y&R has defined energy as a new system of measurement, which directly quantifies the power of a brand's active or moving strength - its momentum. Energy is the consumer perception of a brand's motion and direction."

He continues, "A famous brand may not necessarily create return for its shareholders. That's where brand equity and stature might fail, and energy bring the brand alive. Due to explosion of technology and globalisation, the amalgamation between media convergence and fragmentation, and power shifting from institutions to individuals, the notion of brands is declining. There is a need for a robust element to hold on to your brand. That's where energy steps in. With the rules of business changing, business momentum is more important than brand management."

Energy is the fifth new metric launched under BAV. The other four metrics (or pillars) are 'differentiation', 'relevance', 'esteem' and 'knowledge'. Differentiation determines the distinctiveness of the brand; relevance, how the brand is appropriate to the consumer; esteem, how well regarded the brand is; and knowledge tries to gauge the understanding of the brand by the consumer.

Energised brand strength is a composite of energy, differentiation and relevance, which is a determinant of a brand's current and future potential. It is statistically linked to consumer use, loyalty and pricing power, that is, those aspects of the brand that drive value for the enterprise. However, esteem and knowledge throw light on the brand's past performance.

Rediffusion has developed Energized Rankings, which will rank the top energised brands in India as recognised by consumers through the BAV study. It will also prepare a list of 'energised atoms' - these are the brands that have energised brand strengths that transcend the category in which they compete and as such are beating the competition hands down. Some of the energised Indian brands are Titan, Bajaj Pulsar, Hero Honda CBZ, Cricket, Nokia, Maruti 800, Honda, Samsung, Airtel, MTR, Ariel, Bru, Pond's, Indian Oil Corporation and Asian Paints.

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