How to defend Brand Value in a Social Media World by DAM News Staff

October 12, 2009

There has been a run of articles recently citing survey results etc of Corporations that have banned the use of Social Media.

More than half of employers say they completely prohibit social media use by workers, according to a new survey of about 1,400 large U.S. companies.

Like most articles the question is posed as to why. Certainly on face value the reasons such as a loss of work productivity are cited and supported. But is there are another reason?

Brand’s Can be an Asset

Many Corporations have valued their brands and placed this brand on the balance sheet as an Asset. Under theInternational Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) this may be mandatory for Public Companies.

Why Accountants Want To Control a Brand?

Intangible Asset Value

Why Accountants want control over the brand is pretty apparent when you look at the figures below.

…intangible assets such as brands generally account for the majority of a company’s market value: 70% for Disney, 76% for Nike, 85% for Heinz and 98% for Microsoft. (2005 values)

A brand is categorised as an intangible asset, and in the western world now intangible asset values can quite often be far larger than thetangible asset values of a company.