According to a study of the evolution of the weight of intangibles published annually by Brand Finance together with Coporate Excellence in Spain, 50% of the total value of an organisation resides in its intangibles - reaching 80% in some sectors - and they represent a greater proportion than tangible assets in the total value of many businesses.
"In business, intangibles such as brand, communication and reputation are the best compass in the complexity of our environment and guide us to do well the things that really matter, because reputation has no shortcuts," explains Jaume Giró, president of Coporate Excellence since 2015. In the 1970s, 80% of an organisation's value resided in its tangible assets (factories, products, etc.). Today, up to 80% of an organisation's total value resides in its intangible resources and assets (such as communication).
Corporate Excellence is a non-profit think tank on reputation, brand, communication and public affairs management. It was created by BBVA, CaixaBank, Iberdrola, Repsol, Santander and Telefónica (as ex officio trustees) and is associated with some of Spain's most important public and private companies, such as Agbar, Bankinter, Banco Popular, Correos, Danone, DKV Seguros Médicos, El Corte Inglés, Gas Natural Fenosa, Mapfre, Renfe and the Volkswagen Group. These companies employ more than one million people, are present in 80 countries and have a market capitalisation that represents more than 70% of the IBEX 35.
The value and importance of intangibles has been one of the main themes in the 2017 Proa Observatories, as exemplified by the presentation by Antonio Belmonte (Director of External Communication at Deloitte) 'Communication at Deloitte: from intangibles to business'..