Brand & New

We're diving into a challenge that's been brewing in the world of intellectual property (IP) for quite some time: The public's misunderstanding of IP, particularly trademarks.

Earlier this year, an INTA Presidential Task Force published a report titled Unlocking IP. The report shed light on a critical issue: the consequences of inaccurate or incomplete IP reporting in mainstream media. The message was clear—the media bears a responsibility to educate the public accurately on IP matters.

In this episode of Brand and New, we're turning the tables.

We're exploring the perspective of a visionary media CEO and a seasoned IP journalist, both experts at navigating and communicating intricate subjects in our rapidly evolving media landscape. Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic and Trevor Little is Managing Editor of IAM and World Trademark Review. Mr. Little is also a long-time INTA member and one of two INTA members who led the Unlocking IP Presidential Task Force.
Related Resources

• About Nicholas Thompson
• About Trevor Little
• Unlocking IP Presidential Task Force Report
• Unlocking IP Press Release
• Unlocking IP: INTA’s Media Mission (INTA Bulletin, July 2024)

Whether they discover new brands on social media or loyally purchase the same brands as their grandparents, consumers today encounter a variety of products and services designed to satisfy their diverse needs and preferences. The sum of these purchases is a core driver of economic growth.

In today’s economy, intangible assets play a large role in shaping customer behavior and purchasing habits. Consumers are anticipating a logo, recalling a jingle, or associating a product with an influencer. How does a company determine which of these marketing assets to invest in? How do investors assess the company’s intellectual property (IP) to calculate future returns? And how can governments understand whether the businesses in their jurisdiction are creating IP that is likely to fuel economic growth?

Brand valuation provides a way to standardize questions such as these. Instead of having to subjectively describe why a brand is valuable, an organization can now quantify, assess, and benchmark intangible assets, and strategize accordingly, through brand valuation exercises.

INTA is approaching the valuation and commercialization of brands as a strategic priority within in 2022–2025 Strategic Plan. The Association is committed to provide brand professionals with a solid understanding of brand valuation and evaluation, to help them become key partners to their finance teams and effectively communicate the value of trademarks to both members of the C-suite and externally. Earlier this year, INTA recently published the Presidential Task Force Report on IP Reporting for Brands. Valuation methodologies are also covered in its Finance for Non-Finance Legal Professionals Certificate Program.

Today’s guest is David Haigh, the founder and CEO of Brand Finance Plc. He is a pioneer and foremost expert in brand valuation. He has worked in the field of branded business, and brand and intangible asset valuation since 1991 and, since 1995, has specialized entirely in this area.

Mr. Haigh has represented the British Standards Institution in the working parties responsible for crafting international industry standards and has authored many articles on brand valuation, having been published in numerous marketing and finance newspapers and magazines, including Accountancy Age, the Financial Times, and Marketing Week. He has also lectured on the topic of brand valuation at business schools around the world.

Mr. Haigh graduated from Bristol University with an English degree, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in London, and obtained a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). He is a Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and has a practicing certificate with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Related Resources

• About David Haigh
• About the Brand Finance Institute
• Brands: Past, Present, and Future (Brand & New, July 2024)
• IP Reporting for Brands Presidential Taskforce Report (INTA, 2024)
• Finance for Non-Finance Legal Professionals Certificate Program (INTA)

This is the third episode in the “Women Leaders Series,” a collaboration between Brand & New and The Women’s LeadershIP Initiative. It brings together women leaders in diverse roles and representing various organization types in the brands and IP ecosystem. These women are at the forefront of industry trends and the conversation around how the landscape for women leaders is being shaped today.

Our guest today is Dr. Joanna Seddon, Founder and Managing Partner at brand consultancy Presciant, where she specializes in helping clients maximize the financial potential of their brand and marketing strategies.

Before founding Presciant, Dr. Seddon was Principal and Global Managing Partner, Brand Consulting, at Ogilvy for 10 years. At Ogilvy, she developed a new focus on branding in M&A and brand architecture and portfolio strategy.

Dr. Seddon was previously the founder and CEO of Millward Brown/Kantar’s global brand consulting practice. In this role, she was responsible for the development of fresh approaches to brand and marketing strategy. This included the creation and implementation of the BrandZ Top 100 ranking of the world’s most valuable brands, published annually in the Financial Times.

Prior to joining Kantar, Dr. Seddon was a founding partner and Executive Vice President for Worldwide Strategy at FutureBrand, pioneering the integration of brand strategy and brand identity.

Notably, Dr. Seddon is also CEO of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) since 2022, leading the trustees of the Marketing Accountability Foundation and MASB staff.

Dr. Seddon has more than 20 years of experience in providing strategic recommendations with measurable financial impact to leading clients worldwide and is recognized as a global expert on brand positioning, brand architecture, brand valuation, branding in M&A, brand and marketing investment, brand measurement and ROI and growth strategies.

Dr. Seddon holds a Doctorate from Oxford University and is well known as a speaker and writer on brand strategy, brand valuation, and marketing ROI issues. She is the author of The Brand in the Boardroom , which won the WPP top Atticus prize, and has also collaborated with Jim Stengel, former CMO of P&G on several books, including Grow and Unleashing the Innovators, an analysis of how to infuse innovation and modernity into established brands by taking them into new areas and partnerships.

Resources:

• About Joanna Seddon
• The Marketing Accountability Standards Board
• The Brand in the Boardroom (Ogilvy, 2014)
• Intellectual Property Reporting for Brands Presidential Taskforce Report (INTA, 2024)
• International IP Accounting Standards Board Resolution (INTA, 2022)

The European Union formed in 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in the city located at southern tip of the Netherlands. 12 counties initially joined the EU, and this has since grown to 27 member states. The European Union was once described as the “grand experiment.” Experiments are not without challenges... and setbacks. The exit of the United Kingdom—or Brexit—in 2020 was a major disappointment for the EU, but it has otherwise proven successful, albeit fragile and, in many respects, continues to strengthen as a unified citizen-led democracy.

The last few years have been tough on the EU. Economic uncertainty, rising inflation, and high energy prices, largely linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have left Europeans with a deepening sense of pessimism. In a survey of Europeans in the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, only 20 percent agreed that they or their family will be better off in next five years. Trust in government is low and there is a deepening divide on critical issues.

At the same time, the EU is the largest single market globally today. With a population approaching 450 million people and a GDP of €16 trillion, if it was a country, it would be the world’s third largest (by both these metrics). The EU is ultimately a political and economic partnership, but it faces similar challenges to other economies. And these challenges are frequently compounded by the need to find consensus—and often compromise—among the 27 member states on very complex issues. No doubt, that is essentially how democracy works—it’s difficult by design—but the EU government and member states do just that: They find consensus and compromises, and they legislate. A recent example is the Artificial Intelligence Act, the first-ever legal framework on AI, which was unanimously endorsed by all 27 member states.

Our guest today is Karen Melchior. In 2019, Ms. Melchior became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Frustrated with the state of politics in both Denmark and the EU, she first ran for office in 2014 and was elected the following year to the Copenhagen City Council, where she served on the Social Committee and the Health and Care Committee.

Ms. Melchior has worked as a diplomat for the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in data protection law and IT security at the Danish Agency for Labor Market and Recruitment. She holds an MA in Law and a Masters of Public Administration.

As a MEP, Ms. Melchior serves on three committees: Legal Affairs, Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, and Internal Market and Consumer Protection. She is also a member of Renew Europe, the third-largest political group in the European Parliament.

In an online biography, Ms. Melchior said the following: “Political systems are created by people. They can also be changed by people. We cannot afford to let our frustrations grow to the point where they overshadow our capacity for action. Hate can be triggered as easily as hope. The society we have built, based on cooperation and freedom, is fragile. We need to fight every day to sustain it. We can achieve a lot if we dare to try! Let’s roll up our sleeves, lift our gaze, and work together to create the kind of world we want.”

Resources:

• About MEP Karen Melchior (European Commission)
• About MEP Karen Melchior
• The EU Artificial Intelligence Act
• Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (European Commission)

In part one of our special series, we examined how brands are responding to the dupe revolution. As young consumers embrace affordable alternatives, traditional brands face a choice: adapt or risk losing an entire generation of customers.

Here, brand expert Jessica Binns returns to analyze how some brands are successfully navigating this new landscape and the broader implications for brand loyalty. IP attorney David Lipkus delves into the legal tools available to brands and explores how different jurisdictions approach the legality of dupes. The episode features an extended conversation with influencer Cassandra Bankson.

This episode is part two of a special series in collaboration with INTA's Unreal Campaign, an initiative that educates young consumers about the importance of trademarks and brands.

Inside the Dupe Revolution | Part 1

RESOURCES:

• INTA's Gen Z Insights: Brands and Counterfeit Products Study (2019)
• About the Unreal Campaign
• INTA Fact Sheet: Protecting a Trademark
• About Cassandra Bankson
• About Jessica Binns
• About Alastair Gray
• About David Lipkus