13/10/08 08h26

Crisis puts brand management in the spotlight

O Estado de S. Paulo - 10/13/2008

What could be called the "soul" of a brand can be defined by the relevance it takes in the environment where it circulates, among shareholders, employees, partners and consumers. This intangible asset, not yet reflected in the companies' balance sheets, is in the day's agenda of the executives. The reason is the crisis that plagues the world. "In dire moments, a solid and respected brand always has better results", ponders vice-chairman of Corporative Matters of the Unilever Brasil, Luiz Carlos Dutra. In a survey made with 50 company presidents, by Troiano Consultoria de Marca, presented during the "The trademark in the CEO's agenda" panel in MaxiMídia, a seminary focused on advertising and communication companies, brands make the list of the business' top priorities. Brand management appears in second place, second only to concern with innovation and ahead of corporate governance. Nothing less than 85% of the presidents agrees that the brand is the most valuable intangible asset of the company and, due to that, it deserves total attention. In the segment of consumption goods, in special, the matter of one product's brand independence from the company that created and manufactures it becomes more intense. "Alpargatas would not sell any additional pair of Mizuno sneakers if it added its corporate brand to the product", defended the company's president Márcio Utsch during MaxiMídia. On the other hand of this perception of the brand construction work is the giant Unilever. In a global movement, lead by Brazil in its initial actions of implementation, since the end of 2004 the company has been putting its corporate signature in all products it commercializes. In the strategy of corporative brand adoption, two factors should be taken on account, points professor Ivan Pinto, coordinator of graduate courses of the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing - ESPM (Higher School of Advertising and Marketing). One would be the cost to set up new brand due to the fierce competition in globalized markets. The endorsement of the new brand by a good standing corporation would shorten the path for acceptance. Another factor is the growing awareness of companies about their social and environmental responsibility. With this second point, Dutra fully agrees and says that, in the case of Unilever, it was taken into consideration.