Brand Value Isn't One Thing. It's Nine.
When people talk about "brand value," they usually mean something vague — how well-known you are, how much money you make, how people feel about you. But brand value is actually measurable across specific dimensions, each of which contributes to your overall strength.
The Locrian Score breaks brand value into nine distinct dimensions. Here's what each one measures and why it matters.
1. IP Strength (Weight: 20%)
What it measures: How legally defensible your brand name is. This combines four sub-signals: trademark availability (are there conflicts?), distinctiveness (where does your name fall on the legal spectrum?), conflict exposure (how crowded is your space?), and portfolio breadth (how many registrations do you have?).
Why it matters: Without legal protection, your brand name is vulnerable. Any brand deal, acquisition, or licensing agreement starts with a trademark check. Conflicts can derail opportunities and force expensive rebrandings. Distinctive names are easier to protect, easier to remember, and command higher value.
How to improve: Run a trademark search, file for registration at the USPTO if clear, choose a distinctive name (fanciful or arbitrary beats descriptive), and monitor for new filings that might conflict with yours.
2. Digital Presence (Weight: 12%)
What it measures: Domain ownership, social media handle coverage, Google Trends visibility, and overall digital footprint.
Why it matters: This is your brand's discoverability. If a potential sponsor, collaborator, or fan searches for you, what do they find? A strong digital presence means you're easy to find, professional-looking, and consistently branded across platforms.
How to improve: Claim your domain, secure handles on all major platforms, ensure your profiles are complete, and maintain consistent branding across channels.
3. IP Portfolio (Weight: 10%)
What it measures: Your total intellectual property holdings — registered trademarks, music catalog, copyrights, and other protected works.
Why it matters: Your IP portfolio is your brand's balance sheet. More registered IP means more licensing opportunities, stronger negotiating position, and higher valuation in any deal.
How to improve: Register your trademarks, copyright your key works, and build your content catalog over time.
4. Content Value (Weight: 10%)
What it measures: The breadth and depth of your content library across platforms — YouTube videos, podcast episodes, books, music catalog, and other media.
Why it matters: Content is a long-term asset. A deep content library generates ongoing revenue through streaming, licensing, and discovery. It also demonstrates credibility and commitment to your craft.
How to improve: Publish consistently. Focus on creating evergreen content that continues to provide value over time.
5. Audience Metrics (Weight: 15%)
What it measures: Follower counts, engagement rates, growth trends, and audience authenticity across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Spotify.
Why it matters: This is what brand deals are priced on. But raw follower counts aren't enough — engagement quality and authenticity matter more. Sponsors are increasingly sophisticated about detecting fake followers and inflated metrics.
How to improve: Focus on genuine engagement over follower count. Respond to comments, create content that sparks conversation, and avoid artificial growth tactics that damage authenticity scores.
6. Revenue Signals (Weight: 10%)
What it measures: E-commerce presence, merchandise operations, link-in-bio monetization, and other direct revenue indicators.
Why it matters: Revenue diversification signals a sustainable brand. Single-platform income is a red flag for partners. Brands with multiple revenue streams command better deal terms and higher valuations.
How to improve: Launch a merch line, set up an e-commerce store, diversify your monetization channels, and make it easy for fans to support you directly.
7. Partnership Readiness (Weight: 10%)
What it measures: Brand safety, professional contact information, media kit availability, collaboration history, and content consistency.
Why it matters: This is the "would a sponsor want to work with you?" dimension. Even creators with massive audiences miss out on deals because they lack professional infrastructure. A media kit, clean brand safety record, and professional contact setup can double your deal opportunities.
How to improve: Create a professional media kit, set up a business email, document your past collaborations, and maintain consistent brand messaging. For a detailed look at what sponsors check, read Brand Deals 101: How Sponsors Evaluate Creators.
8. Operational Sustainability (Weight: 8%)
What it measures: Business entity formation, revenue diversification, team structure, infrastructure maturity, and key-person risk.
Why it matters: Partners and investors need to know your brand will exist next year. A sole creator with no business entity, no team, and all revenue from one platform is a high-risk proposition. Operational sustainability separates hobby brands from business brands.
How to improve: Form an LLC or corporation, build a small team or work with regular collaborators, diversify your revenue streams, and create systems that don't depend entirely on one person.
9. AI Search Visibility (Weight: 8%)
What it measures: How prominently your brand surfaces in AI-generated responses from platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity.
Why it matters: AI search is rapidly becoming how people discover brands. If someone asks ChatGPT "who are the top podcasters?" or "best skincare brands," your brand needs to appear. AI visibility is the new SEO — and most brands aren't measuring it yet.
How to improve: Build authoritative content that AI models can reference, earn press coverage from high-authority sources, maintain consistent brand messaging across platforms, and ensure your brand information is accurate and widely cited.
Putting It All Together
No brand is strong across all nine dimensions — at least not at the beginning. The power of measuring each dimension separately is that it shows you exactly where to focus. A musician with great audience metrics but weak IP strength has a clear next step. A business with strong IP but weak digital presence knows where to invest.
Get your Locrian Score to see your brand's breakdown across all nine dimensions. You can also explore how top brands score to see what strong scores look like in practice.