Business school and Etla joint research project examines the impact of brands on Finland’s economic growth
The Brand Value: Decoding Finland's Hidden Intangibles Multiplier project, running from 2026 to 2028, aims to shed light on the role of brands in the Finnish economy.
The project is based on the observation that intangible assets are still considered rather narrowly in both corporate and public decision-making. Brands, in particular, are often viewed merely as marketing expenses, despite their potential to make a significant contribution to long-term business growth and competitiveness.
“Brands are an important component of companies’ intangible capital, yet their contribution to economic growth has received surprisingly little research attention. We want to improve understanding of how investments in brands support business growth and how these effects can also be observed at the level of the wider economy,” explains Professor of Brand Marketing Saila Saraniemi from the Oulu Business School.
Professor of Brand Marketing Saila Saraniemi.
A unique combination of economics and marketing
A distinctive feature of the project is its integration of economic and marketing research within a single framework. While the impact of brands has previously been examined at the company level, their relationship with national economic growth has received relatively little attention.
The project will investigate, among other things, how treating brands as investments rather than expenses would affect the measurement of gross domestic product (GDP) and productivity. It will also examine how the combination of technical and commercial expertise contributes to value creation and growth within companies.
“Our objective is to build a shared understanding of what brand value means and how it can be measured. At the same time, we aim to produce evidence on the relationship between brand investments and economic growth,” says Saraniemi.
The research seeks to generate new insights into how Finland’s innovation and growth policies could be developed to provide stronger support for brand-driven growth.
The project has an extensive network of partners, including businesses, industry organisations, public authorities, and representatives from various ministries. The steering group is chaired by Marja-Liisa Permikangas, CEO of Finnish Textile & Fashion.
The Business Finland-funded research project commenced in autumn 2026 and is led by Olli Ropponen, Research Director at Etla. Based on the findings, a roadmap will be developed to provide new tools for aligning product development, commercialisation, and internationalisation, both within companies and in public policymaking.