Here Olinss point is easy to support. Obviously, if a brand like B&B has no financial value (as the B&B board announced in January) on what basis can any brand valuation be made?
Similarly, as BusinessWeek ranked Citibank the number 11 brand in the world in 2007 with a valuation of U$23 billion by 2009 some estimates put its brand value at around $9 billion and with that its ranking would fall to around number 40. No one can or would dare predict what Citibanks brand value will be by the end of 2009. And given the level of US government assistance (US$25 billion to date), its brand may yet cease to exist (like I saw Washington Mutual close its doors and disappear overnight) and what then is the meaning of any valuation? It Olins is does oversimplify of the brand valuation process in that it does examine both net present value as well as attempts to construct an idea of future value. However, he is right about how often brand valuation is trumpetted as an absolute measure of value and that, almost without exception in most valuations I have seen, the process takes no account of what either customer or market perception and sentiments is for a brand. And Olins is
