What are brands for

What are brands for?

WHEN Imperial Tobacco, the world’s fourth-largest cigarette-maker, said in July that it would spend $7.1 billion to expand its business in America, its chief executive, Alison Cooper, was adamant on one point: it will not be buying companies. Instead, in a three-way deal with Reynolds American and Lorillard, it will pick up a factory, a sales force and, above all, a collection of brands. Two of them, Winston and Blu (an electronic-cigarette brand), will be “the focus for the lion’s share${}^1$ of time and money invested”.

lmperial 帝国的

adamant [ˈædəmənt] 坚定不移 的

7月份，世界上第四大香烟制造商“皇家烟草”宣布它要花71亿美元来扩大其在美国的生意。那时，它的首席执行官 Alison Cooper在一点上坚定不移：它不会收购别的公司。相反，在同雷诺兹美国公司和罗瑞拉德的一宗三向交易上，它承接了一家工厂和一只营销团队，最重要的是它承接了一大堆品牌。它们中的两个，Winston 和 Blu （一个电子烟品牌），将会是时间和资金投入的 首要(最大的一份)${}^1$ 被关注者。

---

No management expert would think it strange that Imperial would spend the best part of $7 billion on something as ethereal as brands. They are the most valuable thing that companies as diverse as Apple and McDonald’s own, often worth much more than property and machinery. Brands account for more than 30% of the stockmarket value of companies in the S&P 500 index, reckons Millward Brown, a market-research company. Everyone knows that a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt costs more than a polo shirt; Coke without the logo is just cola. Ms Cooper hopes to exploit Winston’s “untapped brand equity”.

ethereal [iˈθɪəriəl] 轻飘的，天上的

diverse [daɪˈvɜ:s] 不同的，多种多样的

reckon [ˈrekən] 认为，估计，评定

exploit [ɪkˈsplɔɪt] 开拓

对于皇家烟草把70亿美元中的大部分花在像品牌这样轻飘飘的东西上，没有管理专家会觉得这很奇怪。即使像苹果和麦当劳这样不同的公司，品牌也是他们最珍贵的东西，常常比固定资产和机器还贵得多。市场调查公司Millward Brown估计在标准普尔500指数中，品牌占了公司的股票市值的30%。所有人都知道Ralph Lauren Polo衫比普通POLO衫贵很多。没有“可口”可口可乐就不“可乐”了。Cooper女士希望利用Winston“没被开发的品牌价值”。

---

Yet arguments rage about how much brands are worth and why. Firms that value them come to starkly different conclusions. Most of the time they do not appear as assets on companies’ balance-sheets (see article). One school of thought says brands succeed mainly by inspiring loyalty. “Consumers would die for Apple,” believes Nick Cooper of Millward Brown. Others take a cooler view. Bruce McColl, who as the chief marketer of Mars oversees Snickers chocolate bars, Whiskas cat food and other brands, is on record as${}^1$ saying that “consumers aren’t out there thinking about our brands.” And however much brands may have been worth in the past, their importance may be fading.

stark [stɑ:k] 完全的

asset [ˈæset] 资产

oversee [ˌəʊvəˈsi:] 监督

然而争论起于牌子值多少钱和为什么值这么多钱。评价的他们的公司给出了完全不同的结论。大部分时间，品牌价值不作为资产在资产负债表上列示。一种学派认为品牌的成功主要依靠鼓舞人心的忠诚。Millward Brown的Nick Cooper 相信“消费者愿意为苹果死”。还有人则保持比较冷静的观点。Bruce McColl，马尔斯公司的首席营销官，负责监督士力架、巧克力、威士忌、猫食和其他品牌的产品。 公开${}^1$ 发表说“消费者不像那样考虑我们的品牌。”虽然一些品牌过去值钱，但是他们的重要性现在可能在降低。

---

Brands, of course, vary. Some identify products that are distinctive (like The Economist, we hope). Others confer distinction on products that are otherwise hard to tell apart, such as cola. The brands of banks and insurers are shaped less by advertising and marketing (the usual ways of building a brand) than by customers’ experiences, points out Simon Glynn of Lippincott, a consulting firm. In such cases, consumers get the message only if employees do.

distinctive [dɪˈstɪŋktɪv] 有特色的

confer [kənˈfɜ:®] 授予，比较

当然，品牌各不相同。有些人认为产品与众不同（我们希望像《经济学人》）。其他人则对其他难以区分的产品进行区分，比如可乐。咨询公司Lippincott的Simon Glynn指出，银行和保险公司的品牌不是由广告和营销（通常建立品牌的方式）形成的，而是由客户的经验形成的。在这种情况下，只有雇员工作的时候顾客才得到信息。

---

The idea of brand equity arose in America in the 1980s after a bout of cut-throat discounting by consumer-goods companies, which prompted them to look for less-savage and more enduring ways to boost sales. Patiently building brands became the preferred alternative. They would allow companies to hold on to customers, win new ones and provide launching pads for new products. David Aaker, a business-school professor who helped spread the idea, identified three main components of brand equity: consumers’ awareness of a brand, the qualities they associate with it (BMW summons up German engineering, Ryanair says “cheap”) and loyalty. The arguments now are partly over how important each element

equity [ˈekwəti] 公平，资产

bout [baʊt] 拳击；（尤指坏事的）一通

enduring [ɪnˈdjʊərɪŋ] 持久的

alternative [ɔ:lˈtɜ:nətɪv] 替代的

经历了一系列的消费日用品公司的残酷打折后，品牌资产的概念在20世纪八十年代的美国建立起来，这促使他们寻找一种避免自残更长久的扩大销量的方法。耐心的建立品牌成为了受欢迎的选择。这让公司可以抓住老客户，赢得新客户，并为新产品提供发布平台。帮助推广这一理念的商学院教授大卫•艾克，指出了品牌资产的三个主要组成部分：消费者对品牌的认知，他们与它联想的质量（BMW振作了德国的工程，Ryanair说的“廉价”）还有忠诚。现在的争论部分是关于每个元素有多重要。