25 February 2010 Global Equity Research Multi Industry Americas/United States Great Brands of Tomorrow Credit Suisse STRATEGY Research Institute The Power of Brand Investing An underappreciated investment thesis. There are few true competitive Thought leadership from advantages in modern industry: scale, proprietary technology, monopolies, and network externalities come to mind. We believe brand is an equally powerful Credit Suisse Research and even more sustainable advantage, but one often ignored by financial and the world’s markets owing to its intangible nature. Our research indicates that companies focused on brand building consistently generate outsized long-term growth, foremost experts profitability, and returns. An equal-weighted stock index of companies that spend at least 2% of sales on marketing outperformed the S&P 500 by more Research Analysts than 400 basis points annually since 1997; the top quintile of these companies Omar Saad outperformed the market by an amazing 17% per year. 212 325 3656
[email protected] The Credit Suisse brand framework. Our brand filters help determine how and when to invest in brand stocks by: (1) identifying industry- and company- Spencer Hill 212 538 2266 specific conditions necessary for brand success; (2) understanding the brand
[email protected] lifecycle and key inflection points. Using case-study analysis of dozens of brand stories from the past century, we found that most brands follow a similar arc Product Coordinators* with five distinct stages: emerge, hit the wall, transform and proliferate, Ashley Van der Waag dominate, and reinvent. While early-stage brands are exciting and offer the Katheryn Iorio highest potential return, they can be risky.