Postscript: Preserving (and Growing) Brand Value in a Downturn

We have taken the opportunity provided by the current worldwide recession to further explore the implications of the relationship between brand equity and brand value that we proposed previously,1,2 and our analysis reveals that companies have one of two strategic options for surviving. The “Just Good Enough” strategy maximizes current value, potentially hurting brand equity and appropriable value (or potential future value) in the process, while the “Altered Amortization” strategy offers an opportunity to chase current value while maintaining brand equity with current prospects and activating latent equity with potential prospects, which may increase appropriable value. Anything between these two is a non-viable long-term strategy and companies hoping to ride it out “in the middle” may not make it. We explain both of these strategies below and offer a framework for analyzing which one is right for your brand