Investing in BrandsAll courses
Investing in Brands. Why do we keep buying?
A strong brand lets a company charge more, keep customers through hard times and launch new products with a head start. McKinsey found the world’s 40 strongest brands returned almost twice as much to shareholders as the MSCI World index over the 20 years to 2019. But brands can also fade, as Nokia, BlackBerry and Blockbuster found when customers moved on. This course explains how brand businesses make money, from the pub and the gym to the bathroom shelf and the weekly shop.
10 guides. One payment. Education only: we won’t tell you what to buy.
10 guides. Read them in any order.
- Why brands matter01
Why Brands Matter
Trust, pricing power and the ‘Chivas Regal effect’; McKinsey’s science, art and craft of brands; and why Nokia and Blockbuster lost their way
- Drinks02
Beer
Heineken and Constellation Brands in focus, with AB InBev and Carlsberg
- Drinks03
Spirits
Diageo and Pernod Ricard: Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Jameson and Chivas Regal
- Drinks04
Soft Drinks
Coca-Cola, Buffett’s favourite brand, and its rivals
- Home and the weekly shop05
Everyday Brands
Unilever and Nestlé: Dove, Hellmann’s, Nescafé and KitKat
- Home and the weekly shop06
Grocery
Walmart and Costco: low prices, membership fees and family control
- Home and the weekly shop07
Beauty
L’Oréal, Puig and Estée Lauder: families, fragrance and the price of a promise
- What we wear08
Sport
Nike, Adidas and Amer Sports: star athletes, three stripes and premium outdoor brands
- What we wear09
Fashion
Inditex, owner of Zara: speed, scale and a founder who kept control
- What we wear10
Retail
JD Sports and TJX, owner of TK Maxx: selling other people’s brands
Brands are promises, kept or broken.
Every guide asks the same questions: what does the brand promise, why do customers pay more for it, who controls the company, and what has gone wrong along the way.
These are case studies, not tips. We never say whether a share is cheap or expensive, or whether to buy, sell or hold it. Every guide is dated, because fortunes change.