First, NAME: A brand’s most valuable asset can be the name itself. For one thing, the name can have inherent selling power when the word(s) stand for something… showcasing and explaining the uniqueness of the product or service. By this measure, “Vapo-Rub” is more valuable, more descriptive, than “Formula 44,” and Mercury “Cougar” promises more than Buick “Century.”

But, this value of NAME pales in comparison with the enormous power of those brands that have built equity after decades of consistent brand-building activities. “Diet Rite,” for example, no matter how descriptive and colorful, can’t approach the equity in “Diet Coke,” a heritage built on a bazillion dollars of investment ad spending.

In any brand asset audit, you have to give a lot of weight to the use (and occasional misuse) of a name. Investigating the practical limits of line extensions, for example, forces us to distinguish between those new product efforts that re-invest brand equity and those that dilute it.

So, in box #1 on your scorecard, give your brand a score from 0 to 5 points for the salesmanship built into the meaning of the name… plus, anywhere from 0 to 10 points for top-of-mind awareness, a fair measure of the value of the brand’s history of investment.

Tomorrow, Step 2, PACKAGING, and Step 3, REACH and FREQUENCY.