Even for business to business companies, brand value is usually the largest component in a company's market value. As reported annually in Business Week, the value of the Coca-Cola brand is 58.9 percent of the market capitalization of the entire company and the IBM brand is 39.1 percent of the market cap. Still, for the most part, in today's capital markets the value of brands is greatly underestimated. These facts are not only important to large corporations and famous brands. In fact, the same proportions apply to small and medium-sized companies (SMB), both public and private.

When a company is getting attention, the brand is seldom addressed and research by Max Brand Equity has shown that there are many reasons for that, including:

• Top Management does not understand how brands accrue value, or how to build it.
• Brand building is more complex than just advertising or new products.
• Brand building is perceived as expensive because it is viewed largely as a function of advertising.
• Many people view brand building as a lengthy job and they do not have the patience to tackle it.

The fact is, brands are a key part of a company's value, even in Business to Business environments. In anything other than pure commodities, which are few in number, brands can often be more important in some consumer driven businesses.