At the beginning of November, Damon and I attended Brand Finance’s Annual Forum, which this year was held at LSEG… the London Stock Exchange.
Brand Finance, one of the Fund’s partners, has long championed the need to reflect the intangible value that makes so many brands the success stories we know today, but which, too often, gets ignored when their value is measured.
There were some fascinating speakers – we heard all about the success story that is Fevertree and how their challenge into a market that had not changed for far too long has not only introduced a whole new category, but also grown the overall market considerably.
We also heard about the successful rebrand of the Stock Exchange and how, now under the LSEG banner, they are able to successfully cross-sell the various products and services that previously had been presented as a confusing set of sub-brands.
Damon opened the morning session talking about the challenge of funding innovation in the UK, how important it was to have a clear point of difference – and we still believe the British Design Fund is unique in being the only Fund to focus exclusively on the manufacturing sector – and sharing some of our more recent success stories, including Koalaa, Matter and White Motorcycle Concepts.
As is so often the case, attending the conference gave Damon and I the opportunity to reflect on what we do at the Fund and to recognise how we are helping to move our entrepreneurs from having a great product idea to creating a successful business … realising that much of that journey is about building intangible value in the brands being created and how that can come to mean something relevant and special to their particular target audiences.
So, a big thank you to the team at Brand Finance and to all the excellent speakers. Brand Fiance will soon be releasing its annual review of the most valuable brands and whilst we don’t expect any of our investee companies to be on there yet, watch this space!
John Mathers, BDF Chairman
