Brandstorm

Since 1990, CoreBrand has been continuously monitoring the reputations of 1,000 companies across 50 industries. Known as the Corporate Branding Index, this study is unique in that is it the only continuous examination of how a company's brand contributes to its value. Thus the study is a fair reflection of companies' valuation and their impact on the U.S. and even the global economy.

The growth of intangible assets as a contributor to the economy is undeniable. In 1975, intangible assets — such as brands — accounted for less than 20% of the total market capitalization of most companies. Today, the contribution of intangible assets is more than 80% of that value. Yet internally grown intangible assets are not on the balance sheet. Therefore they are not properly represented or accounted for as drivers of the economy.

Recognizing this accounting shortfall, we created a model to determine brand equity and value. It does so by quantitatively determining the percentage of the company's market cap that is attributed directly to its corporate brand, which then translates into the percentage of market cap attributable to the brand into a dollar value.