Channel NewsAsia Singapore. English., © 2008 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd

Singapore: Having a strong brand will help to boost a company's share price, according to an inaugural survey by DMG and StrategiCom. This is especially evident for firms in the property, REITs, retail, F&B and environmental industries.

The study had looked at the price-to-earnings ratios of 552 companies listed on the SGX and had analysed the relationship between each firm's perceived brand power and its stock market performance.

These companies are from 12 industries, ranging from finance, offshore and marine to transport and logistics.

Terence Wong, Senior Vice President (Research), DMG & Partners, said: "People normally rank listed companies that they know very well up on top. This is typically followed by positive correlation to their valuations too."

So it is of no surprise that companies with stronger brand power generally have higher share expectations.

However, the survey also showed that for firms in finance and the manufacturing and services industries, their share prices were most unlikely to be affected by the strengths of their brands.

Despite that, strategy experts said brand power is still key in helping companies succeed. Wilson Chew, Principal Consultant & CEO, StrategiCom, said: "It will be very sad if business owners think that spending money in building mind share is an expense. I think one's mindset should change. It should be viewed as an investment - a long-term investment - because having a strong brand essentially makes selling easy."

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