Safeguarding the giant: How to keep the sling and stones at bay!

Although there are physical and spiritual giants; some giants take the form of intangible assets with lots of value such as a brand. Brands such as Apple, Amazon, Google as well as Coca-Cola are examples of intangible assets with jaw-dropping value.

A brand is basically a trademark. It is functional mainly in the art of distinguishing the goods and services of an organization from those of another. A brand name could be a word such as “Apple” or an expression such as “Let’s get ready to rumble” which was trademarked in 1992. Brands can be used to promote the goods and services of an organization and more often than not, promote the whole business altogether.

The annual brand ranking passes one message to everyone who takes their time to look at it. The message is simple- the brand of a company could be worth a lot more than all the physical assets of the company put together. According to usatoday.com, the Apple brand alone is in 2018 worth $214,480 billion. A company which owns a brand that is worth so much may, in jurisdictions that allow it, use it as collateral to secure funding or financing.

Just like the humongous biblical character named Goliath died from the impact of a small, smooth pebble shot from a sling into his forehead. Likewise, powerful and worthy brands may fall and possibly die from the impact of a slight yet negative publicity; it does not take so much time for this to happen. In 2015, the US Environmental Protection Agency asserted that Volkswagen had been passing the “emission tests” by deceptively installing “defeat devices” in its vehicles. This allegation reduced the public confidence in the brand almost immediately. A study by Autolist in 2016 showed that there was a reduction of the willingness by the public to purchase a Volkswagen by 28% and the opinion of the public with regards to the environmental consciousness of the company fell by almost 50%. Only time will tell if the recent acts of the company to redeem its image and possibly brand value will yield positive effects.

Here are a few tips for safeguarding a brand from the negative impact of a shot of stone from the sling;
1. Never use certain names: Certain names are not permitted by law to be used as a brand name. Such include descriptive and immoral names as well as the names of well-known brands.

2. Carry out an extensive search in order to determine the availability or otherwise of such names: The availability or otherwise of a potential brand name can be determined from a thorough search of the trademark register, business name register, domain name register, general internet search, telephone directories, companies’ register as well as business’ name register amongst others. The failure to carry out all of these searches might turn out to be more expensive where an organization had already designed e-flyers, logos, business cards and billboards before it realized that the chosen brand name has been in use by a third party. In a nastier scenario, there might be the need to even pay damages to a third party for the unauthorized use of its brand name.

3. Ensure full control of your online space: In the contemporary world, it is hardly possible to carry out a business successfully solely in an offline environment, there is a dire need to create, cultivate and maintain an online environment. It is not enough to ensure the availability of an appropriate domain name, there is the need for acquisition, perhaps, of as many variants of the brand name as possible especially since cybersquatting seem to have become a viable business in modern time. It was not too long ago that we all watched popular Nigerian blogger, Linda Ikeji struggle to get a fitting domain name for her blog since all variants that would have been termed “cool” had been registered by squatters. Unsurprisingly, these cyber squatters were willing to sell the domain names to her for extremely large sums.

4. The cultivation of a brand management culture: A company’s brand “belongs” to every staff of the company and as such every staff, from the highest to the lowest and across all departments, must be taught to avoid acts that would undermine the value of the brand,

5. Decisions made in respect of the brands must be strategically made: The decision as to whether or not to extend brand names must, for instance, be strategically made especially since all necessary factors must be taken into consideration. Thus, brands representing goods of high quality must not be extended to cover goods or services of low quality.

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