Drivers of Brand Value, Estimation of Brand Value in Practice, and Use of Brand Valuation: Introduction to the Special Issue

Brands constitute the largest asset for many firms, and brand valuations are increasingly being seen as an important performance metric both for companies and managers.1 In addition, components of brand valuation models have been found to positively impact financial market performance, so it is critical that managers understand clearly what brand value is, and how they can create and appropriate (capture) as much of that value as possible.2 Due to resource constraints, firms are forced at any given time to emphasize either value creation or value appropriation based on strategic priorities. Research shows that the stock market rewards increased emphasis on value appropriation over value creation,3 but it is obvious that value must be created before it can be appropriated. This special issue on Brand Value and Valuation presents the latest research and ideas related to the diverse drivers of long-term brand value, strategies for appropriating brand value, valuation methodologies, and uses of brand valuation in practice

The Theoretical Separation of Brand Equity and Brand Value: Managerial Implications for Strategic Planning

During the past 15 years, brand equity has been a priority topic for both practitioners and academics. In this paper, the authors propose a new framework for conceptualizing brand equity that distinguishes between brand equity, conceived of as an intrapersonal construct that moderates the impact of marketing activities, and brand value, which is the sale or replacement value of a brand. Such a distinction is important because, from a managerial perspective, the ultimate goal of brand management and brand equity research should be to understand how to leverage equity to create value

Postscript: Preserving (and Growing) Brand Value in a Downturn

We have taken the opportunity provided by the current worldwide recession to further explore the implications of the relationship between brand equity and brand value that we proposed previously,1,2 and our analysis reveals that companies have one of two strategic options for surviving. The “Just Good Enough” strategy maximizes current value, potentially hurting brand equity and appropriable value (or potential future value) in the process, while the “Altered Amortization” strategy offers an opportunity to chase current value while maintaining brand equity with current prospects and activating latent equity with potential prospects, which may increase appropriable value. Anything between these two is a non-viable long-term strategy and companies hoping to ride it out “in the middle” may not make it. We explain both of these strategies below and offer a framework for analyzing which one is right for your brand

Chasing Brand Value: Fully Leveraging Brand Equity to Maximize Brand Value

Both researchers and practitioners seek to understand how to leverage brand equity to create value. Adopting ‘the theoretical separation of brand equity and brand value’ framework originally proposed in the Journal of Brand Management by Raggio and Leone, this conceptual paper looks more closely at the brand value construct and the implications of the proposed theoretical separation. The authors argue that firms are continually attempting to ‘chase’ the appropriable value of their brands—defined as the theoretical maximum value that a brand could achieve if all brand equity were fully leveraged. Implications for developing measures of brand value are discussed

Latitudinal variation of the solar photospheric intensity

We have examined images from the Precision Solar Photometric Telescope (PSPT) at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) in search of latitudinal variation in the solar photospheric intensity. Along with the expected brightening of the solar activity belts, we have found a weak enhancement of the mean continuum intensity at polar latitudes (continuum intensity enhancement $\sim0.1 - 0.2$ corresponding to a brightness temperature enhancement of $\sim2.5{\rm K}$). This appears to be thermal in origin and not due to a polar accumulation of weak magnetic elements, with both the continuum and CaIIK intensity distributions shifted towards higher values with little change in shape from their mid-latitude distributions. Since the enhancement is of low spatial frequency and of very small amplitude it is difficult to separate from systematic instrumental and processing errors. We provide a thorough discussion of these and conclude that the measurement captures real solar latitudinal intensity variations.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figs, accepted in Ap

Beyond “Halo”: The Identification and Implications of Differential Brand Effects across Global Markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether brands impact consumer evaluations in ways other than a consistent halo and the degree to which consumers use both overall brand information along with detailed attribute-specific information to construct their evaluations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors decompose consumer evaluations of brand benefits into overall brand and detailed attribute-specific sources through a standard CFA approach. Data cover 55 brands in four product categories sold in nine global markets. Findings – Halo effects are rare in global CPG markets. The authors identify the presence of differential brand effects in eight of nine global markets tested. Application of an extended model to a market where several competing family brands are present demonstrates the ability of the model to identify relationships among brand offerings within a family brand and to differentiate between family brand sets. Research limitations/implications – The finding of differential effects calls into question the assumption of a consistent brand effect assumed in past research; future models should accommodate differential effects. Practical implications – The ability to decompose consumer brand-benefit beliefs into overall brand and detailed attribute-specific sources provides managers with insights into which latent mental sources consumers use to construct their brand beliefs. As such, the methodology provides useful descriptive and diagnostic measures concerning the sources of suspicious, interesting, or worrisome consumer brand beliefs as well as a means to determine if their branding, positioning and/or messaging is having the desired impact on consumer evaluations so that they can make and evaluate required changes. Originality/value – A significant contribution of this research is the finding that many times the brand source differentially impacts consumers\u27 evaluations of brand-benefits, a finding that is contrary to a consistent halo effect that is assumed in prior models

How Consumers’ Use of Brand vs. Attribute Information

Prior research has identified that brands have a differential impact on consumer evaluations across various brand benefits. But no work has considered whether these effects are stable over time, or evolve in a consistent way. We address this question by decomposing consumer evaluations of brand benefits into overall brand and detailed attribute-specific sources in order to understand whether brand effects remain stable or evolve over time. With two unique datasets, the first containing cross-sectional data from Kodak across four different consumer goods categories, and another longitudinal dataset from the U.S. and Canada in the surface-cleaning category, covering seven brands over five years, we demonstrate a systematic evolution in brand effects: A general trend is that over time and with experience consumers rely more heavily on overall brand information to develop their evaluations. However, early in a brand’s life, or later when circumstances compel consumers to actively consider the attributes, ingredients or features of a brand, consumers may rely more heavily on detailed attribute-specific information to evaluate brand-benefits. Implications for brand management are discussed

A web interface for Clearpath unmanned ground vehicle navigation, mapping, and control

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023This project aims to restore and upgrade the UAF Clearpath platform assets, develop a web application for visualization and control, and document the process. The platforms were upgraded with the latest Clearpath Linux distributions and ROS packages, and their base stations were restored with correctly configured routers. A web application was created to provide convenient visualization and control of the UGVs through a user interface tuned for desktop and smartphone web browsers. The system allows for full control/visualization and read-only visualization through different endpoints, with driving and autonomous navigation features available through the control endpoint. The system also provides a two-dimensional map with the robot and obstacles localized on the map, and an interface for setting autonomous navigation goals. The project was thoroughly documented, and the source code and documents will remain available on GitHub for future use. The system is easily extendable and customized, allowing for the development of new navigation algorithms, user interface features, and endless other possible future projects involving Clearpath platforms

Variation in Establishment Success for American Mistletoe [\u3ci\u3ePhoradendron leucarpum\u3c/i\u3e (Raf.) Reveal & M.C. Johnst. (Viscaceae)] Appears Most Likely to Predict its Distribution in Virginia and North Carolina, United States

Dispersal limitation and variation in habitat suitability may determine an association of American mistletoe [Phoradendron leucarpum (Raf.) Reveal & M.C. Johnst. (Viscaceae)] with forested wetlands in Virginia and North Carolina, United States. Here, we first tested the alternative hypothesis that variation in host availability drives this habitat relationship. We used a generalized linear model to show a positive effect of forested wetland habitat on American mistletoe occurrence after accounting for both variation in host availability and differences among regions in host use. We then used seed sowing experiments to quantify how light availability and flood regime determine the viability of American mistletoe, allowing us to evaluate the potential for establishment limitation to determine this habitat relationship. Light availability predicted establishment rates but % canopy openness did not predict seed germination rates. Thus, variation in the ability for American mistletoe to establish across forested habitat types with different local light availabilities is a potentially important mechanism in determining its distribution

Defective erythropoiesis in a mouse model of reduced Fbxo7 expression due to decreased p27 expression.

During the final stages of erythropoiesis, lineage-restricted progenitors mature over three to five cell divisions, culminating with withdrawal from the cell cycle and the loss of most organelles, including mitochondria and nuclei. Recent genome-wide association studies in human populations have associated several SNPs near or within FBXO7 with erythrocyte phenotypes. Fbxo7 encodes a multi-functional F-box protein known to bind p27 and participate in selective mitophagy. One SNP causes an amino acid substitution (Met115Ile) and is associated with smaller erythrocytes. We find that the less common IIe115 allele of Fbxo7 binds less efficiently to p27, and cells expressing this allele proliferate faster than cells expressing Met115. We show that an erythroleukaemic cell line with reduced Fbxo7 expression fails to stabilize p27 levels, exit the cell cycle, and produce haemoglobin. In addition, mice deficient in Fbxo7 expression are anaemic due to a reduction in erythrocyte numbers, and this is associated with lower p27 levels, increased numbers of late-stage erythroblasts with greater than 2N DNA content, and delayed mitophagy during terminal differentiation. Collectively, these data support an important physiological, cell cycle regulatory role for Fbxo7 during erythropoiesis.This work was supported by the BBSRC (BB/J007846/1), and the Cambridge Fund for the Prevention of Disease.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/path.457