The Routledge Companion to Qualitative Accounting Research Methods

Abstract

approach for valuing brands. It is based on trading and/or transaction multiples from comparable firms whose value is mostly driven by brands. Chapter eight presents a cost-based method that relies on estimating the investments necessary to reproduce a similar brand. These investments may be assessed from historical costs data or from a reproduction costs analysis. The last part of the book starts with chapter nine. It encompasses valuation standards that strive to provide common practices, and common methodologies. It provides an overview of the contexts (i.e. specifically during the 2008 financial crisis) in which the standards have emerged and the issues they raised (i.e. inconsistencies in assets valuation). The pros and cons of brand valuation within standards such as IFRS, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC), ISO 10668 and International Association of Consultants Valuators and Analysts (IACVA) are discussed. Chapter ten lists and discusses the major ad hoc valuation models for brand. The models are grouped according to whether they rely on (1) the Excess Earning approach (two models from Interbrand and BrandEconomics are described and discussed), (2) the Relief-from-Royalties (with the discussion of the BrandFinance model) (3) and market multiples (with the discussion of the Brand Equity Evaluation System, BEES). Chapter eleven deals with the factors affecting brands volatility. First the quantity of available financial data on brands necessary to estimate their value is quite low. Second, two conceptual issues leads to higher uncertainty with classical valuation models, i.e. the ubiquity of brands (i.e. unlike other assets that are usually scarce resources), and the positive demand externalities (i.e. the brand is used the better it is). The chapter then introduces and discusses new areas for brand valuation, such as real options and the need to account for synergies and interactions between a brand and other intangibles (e.g. human capital). Overall, this book provides a rich overview of the main brand valuation models. It also emphasizes issues taken from relevant real cases. The analysis offers a good synthesis and a comparison among the numerous models. Furthermore, the book contains numerous references from the finance and accounting literature. The approach enables the reader to understand the reasons why brand values may differ upon evaluators. Its target audience can be then oriented toward both practitioners and graduate students which may grasp interesting input with the real-life cases.