The WARC Podcast Best of 2025: How brand equity drives growth
Jan 1, 2026
This discussion features Ken Favaro, Chief Strategy Officer at BERA.ai, and Michael Reh, Head of Data Science at BERA.ai. They explore how brand equity acts as a predictor of growth, breaking down the FRMU framework—familiarity, regard, meaningfulness, uniqueness. Michael highlights research linking brand perception with revenue and pricing power, emphasizing that meaningfulness significantly influences profitability. Ken advocates for third-party validation of brand metrics to strengthen marketing strategies, and they share practical tips for connecting brand equity to sales.
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FRMU Is The Predictive Core Of Brand Equity
- Bera defines brand equity as the sum of familiarity, regard, meaningfulness, and uniqueness (FRMU) measured against all brands in culture.
- This composite predicts business outcomes and lets marketers link equity gains to sales and pricing power.
Brand Equity Boosts Enterprise Value More Than Sales
- Bera's econometric work linked changes in FRMU to company revenue and enterprise value across 150 public mono-brand firms.
- The impact on enterprise value was about 1.5x the effect on revenue due to stability and reduced risk.
Brand Perceptions Can Explain Large Revenue Shares
- Integrated mix-model and machine-learning work shows brand perceptions can explain up to ~30% of revenue for some clients.
- Real-time models link perceptions to customer likelihood and wallet share for immediate strategic decisions.