Interbrand
Interbrand, a division of Omnicom, is a global branding consultancy, specializing in vast brand services, including brand analytics, brand strategy, brand valuation, corporate design, digital brand management, and naming. Today, Interbrand is amongst the largest brand consultancies and has grown to include 40 offices in 25 countries.
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[edit] History
Interbrand was founded by John Murphy, a native of Essex in the United Kingdom. His interest in branding design began while working in the corporate planning and marketing department at Dunlop Corporation, a leader in the tire industry.
In 1974, Murphy decided to leave Dunlop and along with his wife opened Novamark, a product-naming consultancy. In 1979, to the benefit of its growing client roster, Novamark opened an office in New York, but under the name Interbrand. The new name reflected a shift in the company's offerings. No longer focused on naming and registering trademarks alone, the company was now involved in the more encompassing activity of brand strategy and design.[1]
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s international offices were opened, including Tokyo and Frankfurt, Milan, Los Angeles, and Melbourne - all offering a full range of branding services: brand valuation, new product development, naming, legal searches, and graphic design.
In 1993, Interbrand was acquired by the Omnicom Group, and throughout the 1990s and 2000s expanded their service capabilities by acquiring leading branding and identity consultancies in the UK, Asia-Pacific, South America, Germany, and in South Africa. By going global, Interbrand improved its abilities to deal with cross-language and cross-cultural branding.[2]
[edit] Case Studies
AT&T
After SBC acquired AT&T in 2005 to form the largest telecommunications company in the United States, Interbrand New York was asked to position the new entity that would re-emerge as a category leader. Since then Interbrand has helped AT&T with several significant brand evolutions given their role as a driving force in a dynamic and constantly changing industry. In 2009, the company helped AT&T launch Rethink Possible. Rethink Possible is rooted in optimism and possibility. It represents a point of view and a lifestyle choice that can be fueled by what AT&T has to offer. Interbrand’s work for AT&T spans more than five years of progressive brand evolution and has helped AT&T seize opportunity at key inflection points of industry change.[3]
Petroc
Following a merger between North Devon College and East Devon College, the newly combined institution had no over-arching character to help differentiate it against the region’s many competing colleges. Interbrand’s challenge was to radically rebrand the newly formed institution, raise the profile of the new college, and reposition it as a leading institution above and beyond the reach of the immediate region. The solution was the new name Petroc, which came from consultations with staff and students, (Saint Petroc was a sixth century Celtic Christian who ministered in Devon and Cornwall) and its associated verbal and visual identity guidelines.[4] The new brand was launched on September 23, 2009.[5] The project won two Transform Awards in 2010.[6]
[edit] Methodology
Interbrand has refined its processing of contracts into a five-step discounted Economic Value Added methodology. Interbrand releases an annual ranking of the best global brands by value, known as "The Best Global Brands." To qualify, brands must have a presence on at least three major continents, and must have broad geographic coverage in growing and emerging markets. Thirty percent of revenues must come from outside the home country, and no more than fifty percent of revenues should come from any one continent.
The credibility of the Interbrand and Millward Brown league tables have been cast into doubt by an article written in Marketing Week by Mark Ritson.[7] The lack of clear definitions and valuation dates in the both companies methodology raise questions about the subjectivity involved in brand valuations. Being part of multinational advertising groups, Interbrand and Millward Brown also suffer from the risk of objectivity. Transparency and objectivity are two of the requirements of the ISO 10668 standard of monetary brand valuations.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Interbrand-Corporation-Company-History.html
- ^ http://www.equitor.com/interbrand.html
- ^ http://adage.com/article?article_id=143167
- ^ http://www.interbrand.com/en/our-work/PETROC.aspx
- ^ http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/story.aspx?storycode=3004720&PageNo=2&SortOrder=dateadded&PageSize=10
- ^ http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/transform2011event/2010-winners
- ^ http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/industry/brand-valuations-do-not-always-tell-the-full-story/3030524.article
[edit] External links
- Interbrand Corporate Website
- Website of InterbrandHealth
- brandchannel - online magazine about branding, produced by Interbrand
