Aswath Damodaran - on brands

This is really excellent video by Aswath Damodaran - the guy who, through the web, introduced me to corporate finance (the assimilation of which is an ongoing saga). Aswath is the kind of teacher that you get rarely and is able to turn a subject that I, left to my own devices, would recoil from in horror into something interesting. How - well it is the magic of somebody who sees things as interesting and explains them in an easy logic. He is also very funny.

In this video he values the brand of Coca-Cola in it he gives a lot of insight into why brands are so powerful and important.

• Brands give you sustainable competitive advantage.
• A good brand is enduring (lasts a long time).
• A good brand gives you pricing power - yes you can just sell the same product for more.

You may have wondered why Waren Buffet was and is so big on CocaCola - now there's a question.

The video is well worth watching (great jumper) or listening to - Damodaran puts it far better that I can.

Lyons Brown - Altamar Brands

Lyons Brown is an excellent public speaker. He gives some frank as well as rather good insight into the US drinks industry. Check it out.

I have become more interested in brands and branding. I figure that brands have become an integral part of what we consider our culture. Thinking back I grew up on Birds-Eye fish fingers because they were "better". If you buy Ice cream what brand do you want if you have friends calling around. What kind of cereals to you want to pour into your bowl in the morning. You buy a bottle of water!!? (it is 100% drinkable and clean out the tap) and you hit out for a brand and so it goes on.

A strong brand is a moat around a business.