Jingle Sells, Jingle Sells - Brand Santa Worth $1.6 Trillion
Most of us will be expecting the latest branded goods this Christmas and we’ll be relying on Santa Claus to deliver them to us. But the latest research from experts Brand Finance shows that Santa is more valuable than all the brands he delivers.
Brand Santa is worth a staggering $1.6 trillion. In contrast, Apple, the most valuable brand of 2013 was valued by Brand Finance earlier this year at just $87.3 billion. Using an analysis similar to its corporate brand valuations, Brand Finance took in the economic areas where Santa makes his mark such as travel, retail and accommodation, then looked at the festive period uplift in revenues and applied a royalty rate to arrive at the final figure.
Santa Claus has been integral to the festive season for over a thousand years and in that time has built up unrivalled brand equity. While first establishing his brand, Santa was frequently seen in a variety of different guises, appearing most often in green, red or gold robes. However a shrewd partnership with Coca-Cola resulted in a sharpening of his brand image and a more consistent visual identity. Santa now enjoys unrivalled recognition and is an extremely lucrative ambassador for hundreds of brands.
Brand Finance CEO David Haigh commented “Santa is the gold (or should that be red & white) standard when it comes to branding. Recognised the world over, his team have done a meticulous job of managing his image and building his profile whilst keeping him relevant to successive generations. Who knows what novel ideas his team of elves are cooking up as we speak?”
Head Elf of R&D, Doaivu Josefsen, commented “We are always looking for new ways to enhance engagement and drive awareness amongst his young, technologically literate target demographic. We are harnessing the power of ‘Big Data’ to create our most sophisticated algorithm to date; this will provide Santa with the most accurate information yet on who’s been naughty or nice.”
The elves are making use of technology in other ways. Chief Elf and Safety Officer, Hennet Olsen, stated “Though Santa and his team of reindeer make light work of delivering presents to billions of people, in order to accelerate quickly enough to reach every house in one night he is subjected to a force of over 17,500 g. Recent EU legislation on worker safety applies here in Lapland and so we have been forced to lighten Santa’s workload. Consequently we have taken the lead from Amazon and will begin deliveries by drone.”
David Haigh concludes, “There are many sceptics who suggest Santa is a fake and nothing more than a marketing gimmick, any such rumours are entirely spurious of course. There is no doubt that Santa Claus is the World’s most valuable celebrity brand and it is no wonder that brands from Coke to VW to KFC want his endorsement.”
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ENDS
Note to Editors:
Brand Finance is the world’s leading Brand Valuation agency with offices in over 15 countries worldwide.
Contact:
For further information please contact Robert Haigh, Communications Manager, Bryn Anderson, Valuation Director or David Haigh, CEO.
r.haigh@brandfinance.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 73899400
Mob: +44 (0)7762211267
b.anderson@brandfinance.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 73899400
Mob: +44 (0)7894541442
d.haigh@brandfinance.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 73899400
Mob: +44 (0)7885153725
Appendix – Christmas Trivia
Kanakaloka – Hawaii
Ông già Noel – Vietnam
Siôn Corn – Wales
Jultomten - Sweden
Naththal Seeya – Sri Lanka
Dedo Mraz – Macedonia
Tonton Nwèl – Haiti
Djed Božičnjak – Croatia
Viejito Pascuero – Chile
Gaghant Baba - Armenia