In February of this year Sharper Image went bankrupt. Nevertheless, the brand lives on! Hilco Organization and Gordon Brothers Group LLC purchased Sharper Image for $49 million including $33 million for the brand name. According to Hilco's Chief Executive, James Salter as quoted in the Wall Street Journal; the Sharper Image products will be sold on the web, through catalogs, and possibly through large department stores like Target or Best Buy. Mr. Salter claims the Sharper Image name could generate sales of $1 billion.

Brand value never ceases to amaze me. Sharper image started losing sales back in 2005 when it received a damning review of its Ionic Breeze air purifier in Consumer Reports magazine. With sales floundering, founder, Richard Thalheimer left Sharper Image in 2007 with a $30 million buyout. He has since started a new gadget company called RichardSolo.com.
Here you have a bankrupt company that paid its former owner $30 million, the brand name is purchased for $33 million, and the company expects sales on that name of $1 billion. I wonder how many other unsuccessful companies are making it big on their brand names. What's your brand worth?

Want to understand the significance of your company or product’s brand? Take a look at the brand icon known as Tiger Woods. In a recent Wall Street Journal article by Suzanne Vranica and Stephanie Kang, the authors site that the injury to Tiger’s knee and his resulting miss of the rest of the PGA season, will not only be painful to Tiger, but also to the companies whose brands he represents.
Think of General Motor’s Buick division that was planning a major promotion both online and offline highlighting the theme “Tee-Off with Tiger.” This probably could not have come at a worse time for GM, which is already suffering from poor sales. What will be the impact on Tiger’s other sponsors, like Nike, Tag Heure, and Accenture?
According to the WSJ article, TV ratings for the final rounds of tournaments show a 28% increase when Tiger Woods is in contention versus not in contention. Calculate this effect on advertisers of the PGA tournaments along with Tiger’s usual sponsors. The amount of money in lost ad revenue and sponsorship sales revenue must be staggering.
This event is just one illustration of the value of brand and why brand development needs to be a C- level, corporate responsibility. Many corporations can measure the value of their brand in their P&L's, but the Tiger brand story shows that even a brand icon can affect a company's bottom line. CEO's need to be sure that they maintain a strong brand strategy and be vigilant about their brands.