InterbrandÕs unveiling of the top 20 Australian-owned brands by brand value Ñ with Telstra, the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac the top three Ñ will no doubt prompt many CEOs and marketers to ask themselves what they need to do to increase the value of their brand. Renzo Scacco, Interbrand consultant, says: ÒThe answer to successful branding lies in the development and understanding of a unique and relevant proposition, then striving to deliver on that proposition through branding and marketing to give the desired investment return.Ó In an Australian first, Interbrand devised its list through a complex methodology that calculates brand value as the net present value of the earnings a brand is expected to generate in the future. To be considered, brands had to have a profitable performance, publicly available data, and be able to be broken down into branded revenue and non-branded revenue. Woolworths, ranking sixth with a brand value of $1.6bn after the big four banks, was billed as a branding success story by Interbrand CEO John Allert, who similarly attributed its success to the building of a single brand proposition, ÒThe Fresh Food PeopleÓ. ÒWoolworths has become a beacon in branding by using a proposition to drive revenue that resonates with the customer base,Ó says Allert. Holly Kramer, chief of marketing at Telstra, says the telcoÕs top ranking is the result of a focus on consumer service, which she claims is at an all-time high. ÒWe would like to assume that this is what has accounted for our strong financial performance.Ó Graham Ford, general manager of brand marketing & information management at the Com-monwealth Bank, expresses a similar sentiment on the importance of the consumer. ÒWe continually try to understand what drives the brand from a consumer perspective, and while itÕs nice to be number two, we still have a long way to go.Ó Ford reiterates the significance of branding. ÒIf you took the brand off your service, how much would you sell?Ó Sarah Grant
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