Brand capital in four inputs

The scoring model, written out plainly, with the arguments against it included.

This is the model. It is not proprietary and there is no course at the end of it.

Brand capital, as used on this site, is the stock of accumulated trust that lets a company charge more, close faster, hire better and survive a bad quarter. It is a stock, not a flow — which is why campaign metrics measure it so poorly.

Input one is recognition inside the buying committee, not the general public. Input two is the cost of trust, proxied by sales cycle length. Input three is price realisation. Input four is talent pull: inbound applications from people you did not have to pay a recruiter to find.

The obvious objection is that all four are contaminated by things that are not brand. Correct. Sales cycle shortens when you hire better salespeople. Price realisation improves in a tight supply market. The model does not resolve this and no model does. What it does is force the contamination into the open, where a competent team can argue about it.

The second objection is that four inputs is too few. Also fair. Every input you add improves fidelity and reduces the chance that anyone acts on the result. Four is the largest number a leadership team will hold in their heads a year from now.