Credit Suisse urges investment in brand building companies
Credit Suisse is the latest global financial services provider advising investors to build their portfolios around stocks or companies that focus heavily on marketing strategy and brand-building.
The move follows a note in January in which Deutsche Bank highlighted the importance of demonstrating to investors the positive effect of marketing strategy on company results.
A subsequent note published by Deutsche Bank last week pointed out that companies which invested in marketing during the recession are already seeing the benefits through improved volumes and better profit.
Now Credit Suisse has published a global report called The Power of Brand Investing, an in-depth look at how a company’s brand can be one of the few true competitive advantages remaining in industry.
The report, which was researched and written by directors Omar Saad and Ashley Van Der Waag, claims that compared to scale, proprietary technology and monopolies, brand is “an equally powerful, leveragable and even more sustainable advantage, but one that is often ignored by the financial markets.”
Credit Suisse outlines the contributions that intangibles such as marketing strategy, innovation, product reliability, service quality and brand essence make to business growth and success.
Michael O’Sullivan, head of UK research and portfolio analysis at Credit Suisse, told Marketing Week that the importance of brand and brand strategy was a growing part of the bank’s “thematic focus” and added: “You’ll be hearing more from us on this theme.”
