https://players.brightcove.net/5344802162001/1cMNiwC9oQ_default/index.html?videoId=6100428159001

As an entrepreneur, everything you do should reinforce the central strategy of your brand and company. Disruption is inevitable, so you better be prepared to fight fire with fire. As <a href='https://masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-great-first-line-for-your-novel' target='_blank' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-great-first-line-for-your-novel","linkCopy":"the first line","category":"automated-link"}' automatic='true'>the first line</a> of defense, have one foot in the future, and always be iterating on your brand or company.

Bob Iger on the Value of Brand

*“The most important thing in terms of maximizing brand value or managing a brand is first, to completely understand the essence of the brand.”*
 
[What does Bob mean by “the essence of the brand?”](https://www.masterclass.com/classes/bob-iger-teaches-business-strategy-and-leadership/chapters/creating-brand-value) He’s talking about the attributes of your brand that evokes specific feelings in the consumer and signal certain values. If a consumer aligns with your values, your brand becomes a shorthand for those values in the marketplace. The consumer, faced with myriad decisions each day is able to cut through the noise by recognizing your brand and sticking with your product. They form an opinion about you once, and as long as you don’t betray that trust, their familiarity with the brand simplifies their decision-making process.
 
Core brand values, along with brand recognition and customer loyalty, are important intangible assets to every successful brand story.

What makes your brand valuable to customers? Pace around your living room with a dry erase marker between your teeth and a blank whiteboard in front of you. Here are a few things that could be on your list of brand values:

- Commitment to sustainability and the environment
- Integrity and transparency
- An insistence on simplicity and efficiency
- A casual, fun sense of accessibility
- Interconnectedness—the feeling of welcoming consumers into a community
- An emphasis on progress, on providing a cutting edge product

Once you’ve got a robust list going, ask yourself: Does every product under your brand umbrella embody these values? 
 
If not, you’ll either need to rethink your unifying set of values or (more likely) adjust your products to universally support your brand. Once your products clearly align with your brand values, you’re golden. Now you have the opportunity to extend that consumer goodwill into other realms, gradually widening the scope of your brand to be leveraged in a variety of areas. If you can do this with a collection of brands — as Bob has with Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Princesses — needless to say, you’ll be in great shape. 

*“Brand is a very, very careful balance between legacy, or heritage, and innovation.”*
 
Because brand is inherently value-charged, there will be times when the values of the culture shift, and you’ll have to adapt. In a changing world, stewards of healthy brands have to be on their toes, ensuring authentic relevance. We can spot the disingenuous a mile away, so the secret here is actually recognizing how the values of your brand are pertinent to the values that consumers are currently prioritizing. 

To do this, you’ll need to look closely at the heritage of your brand, recognize its essence, and then innovate ways to allow that essence to speak to the current moment. This can be tough—especially if it seems like you’ve already got a good thing going. But change is inevitably required in order for a brand to stay healthy. Blind adherence to the way things were done in the past—a sort of backward-looking traditionalism—can become a hangup.
 

There’s a difference between a brand’s value and its values; while the former may define the brand’s success and financial performance on paper, the latter is what determines its soul. If brand value executed well it lays the foundation for brand equity. Brand equity captures customer experience and is the product of lasting recognition and consumer preference over other competing brand names. 


Get the [MasterClass Annual Membership](https://www.masterclass.com/) for exclusive access to video lessons taught by business luminaries, including Bob Iger, Sara Blakely, Howard Schultz, Anna Wintour, and more.
As an entrepreneur, everything you do should reinforce the central strategy of your brand and company. Disruption is inevitable, so you better be prepared to fight fire with fire. As <a href='https://masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-great-first-line-for-your-novel' target='_blank' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-great-first-line-for-your-novel","linkCopy":"the first line","category":"automated-link"}' automatic='true'>the first line</a> of defense, have one foot in the future, and always be iterating on your brand or company.

“The most important thing in terms of maximizing brand value or managing a brand is first, to completely understand the essence of the brand.”<a href='https://www.masterclass.com/classes/bob-iger-teaches-business-strategy-and-leadership/chapters/creating-brand-value' target='_self' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://www.masterclass.com/classes/bob-iger-teaches-business-strategy-and-leadership/chapters/creating-brand-value","linkCopy":"What does Bob mean by “the essence of the brand?”","category":null}'>What does Bob mean by “the essence of the brand?”</a> He’s talking about the attributes of your brand that evokes specific feelings in the consumer and signal certain values. If a consumer aligns with your values, your brand becomes a shorthand for those values in the marketplace. The consumer, faced with myriad decisions each day is able to cut through the noise by recognizing your brand and sticking with your product. They form an opinion about you once, and as long as you don’t betray that trust, their familiarity with the brand simplifies their decision-making process.Core brand values, along with brand recognition and customer loyalty, are important intangible assets to every successful brand story.

Bob Iger on the Value of Brand 

What makes your brand valuable to customers? Pace around your living room with a dry erase marker between your teeth and a blank whiteboard in front of you. Here are a few things that could be on your list of brand values:<ul class="mc-m-4 list-styled"><li class="">Commitment to sustainability and the environment </li><li class="">Integrity and transparency </li><li class="">An insistence on simplicity and efficiency </li><li class="">A casual, fun sense of accessibility </li><li class="">Interconnectedness—the feeling of welcoming consumers into a community </li><li class="">An emphasis on progress, on providing a cutting edge product </li></ul>Once you’ve got a robust list going, ask yourself: Does every product under your brand umbrella embody these values? If not, you’ll either need to rethink your unifying set of values or (more likely) adjust your products to universally support your brand. Once your products clearly align with your brand values, you’re golden. Now you have the opportunity to extend that consumer goodwill into other realms, gradually widening the scope of your brand to be leveraged in a variety of areas. If you can do this with a collection of brands — as Bob has with Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Princesses — needless to say, you’ll be in great shape.

How to Establish Your Core Brand Values

“Brand is a very, very careful balance between legacy, or heritage, and innovation.”Because brand is inherently value-charged, there will be times when the values of the culture shift, and you’ll have to adapt. In a changing world, stewards of healthy brands have to be on their toes, ensuring authentic relevance. We can spot the disingenuous a mile away, so the secret here is actually recognizing how the values of your brand are pertinent to the values that consumers are currently prioritizing. To do this, you’ll need to look closely at the heritage of your brand, recognize its essence, and then innovate ways to allow that essence to speak to the current moment. This can be tough—especially if it seems like you’ve already got a good thing going. But change is inevitably required in order for a brand to stay healthy. Blind adherence to the way things were done in the past—a sort of backward-looking traditionalism—can become a hangup.

What to Do When a Brand is in a Crisis

There’s a difference between a brand’s value and its values; while the former may define the brand’s success and financial performance on paper, the latter is what determines its soul. If brand value executed well it lays the foundation for brand equity. Brand equity captures customer experience and is the product of lasting recognition and consumer preference over other competing brand names.

The Difference Between Brand Value and Brand Equity

Get the <a href='https://www.masterclass.com/' target='_self' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://www.masterclass.com/","linkCopy":"MasterClass Annual Membership","category":null}'>MasterClass Annual Membership</a> for exclusive access to video lessons taught by business luminaries, including Bob Iger, Sara Blakely, Howard Schultz, Anna Wintour, and more.

Want to Learn More About Business?

As an entrepreneur, everything you do should reinforce the central strategy of your brand and company. Disruption is inevitable, so you better be prepared to fight fire with fire. As <a href='https://masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-great-first-line-for-your-novel' target='_blank' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-great-first-line-for-your-novel","linkCopy":"the first line","category":"automated-link"}' automatic='true'>the first line</a> of defense, have one foot in the future, and always be iterating on your brand or company.