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value: john warrillow

With the Canadian launch of the second edition of my book, Built to Sell, this week I'm tackling some of the best questions you sent me about the first edition. Here is one:

How much is my business brand worth?

We often use the words "logo" and "brand" interchangeably but, as Ted Matthews argues in his book, Brand: It Ain't the Logo, a brand is actually the sum total of what people think of you, and goes well beyond your logo.

Logos on their own have very little value. For example, in 1971, Phil Knight paid Carolyn Davidson $35 to create the Nike "Swoosh" logo. Today, global brand consultancy Interbrand ranks Nike No. 25 on its list of the top 100 most valuable brands in the world, with an estimated value of more than $13-billion.

But it wasn't the $35 logo that made Nike valuable. It was the years and billions that the company invested to make the logo so meaningful to its audience that customers demonstrate a willingness to buy – often at a premium over similar non-branded gear – products with the Nike logo emblazoned on them.

The Nike logo – and the entire brand that it embodies – has become valuable because people have demonstrated a willingness to purchase (and repurchase) the products that feature the logo.

So when estimating the value of your brand, focus less on what your logo might be worth and more on quantifying your customers' repeat purchase rate. If you can demonstrate that your brand drives your customers' loyalty, then your logo, brand and customer list may indeed be the most valuable part of your business.

Special to The Globe and Mail

John Warrillow is a writer, speaker and angel investor in a number of start-up companies. He is the author of Built To Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You, published by Portfolio Penguin.

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Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:10pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
NKE-N
Nike Inc
-0.16%93.98

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