Every year, leading valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance values the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies. Using factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, loyalty, staff satisfaction and corporate reputation the company can evaluate the brand’s strength and give it a rating, the highest of which is AAA+.
People at Ferrari will no doubt be celebrating, as it’s just been announced that the brand has been upgraded to the maximum rating of AAA+, making it the only car brand to have achieved this rating and the most powerful auto brand in the world. Porsche is the second most powerful auto brand, showing that supercar marques are leading the way when it comes to capturing the public’s imagination.
The strength of Ferrari’s brand is all the more remarkable given its increasingly commercial approach and improving revenues. Former Chairman Luca di Montezemolo enforced a strict production cap of 7,000 vehicles, convinced that this was essential to maintaining perceived exclusivity and brand strength. However since Sergio Marchionne took command, and particularly since Ferrari’s IPO, a less puritanical approach has been employed. The annual production cap has been raised to 9,000 and a new Ferrari land is set to open at PortAventura in Spain on April 7th. This increased commercial exploitation of the brand has seen brand value surge 40% to US$6.15 billion this year.
Brand Finance CEO David Haigh comments, “The fact Ferrari has boosted revenues without compromising brand strength suggests that it has found the perfect formula to sustainably exploit brand equity to maximize shareholder value.”