property brand halo: the price of everything and the value of nothing

Consumer brands know their consumers. They design for them, position around them and build brand perception aimed at them.

The recent drive by major fashion retailers to encourage mending and reuse is a perfect case in point. Brands including Levi's, Zara and Uniqlo are introducing repair services and workshops aimed partly at younger consumers interested in sustainability and reuse.

What retail analyst Neil Saunders describes as putting a ‘halo on the brand’ demonstrates how sustainable practices can be harnessed within a market paradigm – not a moral imperative, not a policy dictat and certainly not a viability constraint. Quite the opposite really.

What those brands are effectively doing is signalling to the market that not only do they speak the same language as their consumers, but that they help shape that language altogether.

Because what Neil Saunders describes as a ‘halo on the brand’ is shaping how a brand is perceived, valued and chosen by the market. This is the full breadth of positioning.

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde writes: “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

Not everything that creates economic value can be captured by a spreadsheet. Brand equity, differentiation, cultural relevance, reputation and consumer preference all have economic consequences. They shape demand, pricing power and ultimately asset value. But they don't necessarily appear as Excel cells saying "£2.3m: brand halo".

Consumer brands understand the halo effect. Property still tries to value engineer it.

Consumer brands capitalise on this and are rewarded for it. Why doesn’t property?