[The Superbrands Council]
NOEL O’DEA
President, Target Marketing & Communications Inc.
John Smale, Chairman of Procter & Gamble,
reported in 1995 that while Procter & Gamble
was valued at $48 billion, its assets totalled only
$6 billion. The $42 billion difference, he said,
represented the brand equity the company had
built into its products through advertising.
As brand architects, we see brands as complex
bundles of meanings, emotions, symbols,
and associations created and shaped by advertising
and other brand cues, and adopted by
people to fit their aspirations, dreams, and selfconcept
or as a tribal badge.
Advertising is one of our most powerful
tools for building strong, profitable brands.
Advertising gives the brand its voice. It communicates
what the brand stands for. It delivers
a powerful articulation of the brand’s benefits.
And, at its most powerful, advertising sneaks
into our hearts and minds, and creates an enduring
emotional bond.
That’s the point when a brand becomes a
superbrand.
