Discovering brand magic: the hardness of the softer side of branding

AbstractWhile there is clearly consensus that brands are valuable assets, there is less agreement as to the extent of that value. It might appear that brands have not been flavour of the month since Marlboro Friday, in 1993, when that brand announced a 20 per cent price cut. This article will examine the evidence of the value of brands from a financial point of view. More importantly, however, we will explore a key driver of that financial value which we call ‘Brand magic’. We argue that functional excellence is fast becoming a necessary but not sufficient attribute of strong brands. Instead, we suggest that brand strength depends far more upon developing a unique, vivid and meaningful identity for a brand.