Sometimes you see brands on the balance-sheet, sometimes you don’t

Both American and international accounting rules prohibit companies from recognising brands and many other “intangible” assets (such as customer lists) if they have created them themselves. Some marketers would like to change that. Roger Sinclair, who advises the MASB, an American body that sets marketing standards, points out that rules are inconsistent. The value of a brand—invisible when internally generated—is revealed when another company buys it.

Read more at The Economist

What are brands for?

Brands are the most valuable assets many companies possess. But no one agrees on how much they are worth or why. Most of the time they do not appear as assets on companies’ balance-sheets

Read more at the Economist

Ad Industry's Overall Favorite Media Brand

Facebook, Twitter and Google may dominate the trade press and the blogosphere, but one of the most traditional media brands -- ABC -- is the most powerful in the hearts and minds of advertisers and ad agency executives, according to an annual survey of Madison Avenue’s perceptions of the media they do business with. The study, which surveyed thousands of advertisers and agency executives, is conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, which is to the ad industry what J.D. Power’s annual awards are to the automotive industry. ABC’s ranking as the most dominant “overall” media brand is a composite of all of the individual attributes that AR surveys the ad industry about, and it replaces last year’s champ, Meredith. Not surprisingly, ABC ranked No. 1 in “brand strength” among broadcast network brands for the second year in a row. Among “digital” media brands, an ascendant Facebook toppled Google from the top position in “brand strength. Read more here

Marketers Struggle With Social Media

Marketers are struggling to fully integrate social into their overarching marketing strategies, according to a new report from the Chief Marketing Officer Council.

Read more here.

The Pocket Guide to Defensive Branding

The era of friction-free feedback is turning Twitter into a 24/7 anywhere and anyplace complaint desk. Media reporters, now fortified by social-media tools themselves, regularly source scoop from a cheat sheet of tweeters, bloggers and article commentators. Often, they know things about our brands before we do. And let's not forget the already-toxic and wickedly effective activist groups that -- now on social-media steroids -- have dramatically upped the ante for brand pain. Reflect hard on the "Six Drivers of Brand Credibility" -- trust, transparency, authenticity, listening, responsiveness and affirmation. Don't get high and mighty about "cause marketing" if there's a cause group that has a bone to pick with you. Remember, a "Don't talk to me" sign can quickly prompt a video nasty-gram on YouTube, a petition drive on Facebook or a tweetstorm in your honor.

Read more at Advertising Age.