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| Ford celebrates regaining ownership of its trademark |
In the case of Ford and a few of its trademarks – the 'Blue Oval', Mustang and F-150 – somewhere just south of 24 billion dollars.
In 2006, Ford used those trademarks, along with a few other assets like their world headquarters building, as collateral for a $23.5 billion loan that they used to restructure the company.
Fortunately for Ford, they brought the right people on board, made some very smart product decisions and continued to build their brand even though it was technically owned by the bank.
The result? Six years later, Ford is incredibly profitable, has significantly paid down its debt, and thanks to an upgrade in its credit rating, regained ownership of the blue oval and all its other trademarks.
None of it would have been possible had the Ford brand not been so valuable in the first place. The bankers knew that even if Ford defaulted on its loans, they could sell the trademarks and other assets to another company and get most if not all its money back.
Yes, it's important to build remarkable products. But Ford proves that having a remarkable brand can mean just as much when times get tough.
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I also think it is amazing that Ford would allow its brand to be put on the table as collateral. I understand the value but at the same time, the nerve it took to sign that away for the amount of cash they were looking for was a HUGE leap.
ReplyDeletejust saying.