INTRODUCTION

Many phenomena which occur in the modern economy promote the growing importance of brand in creating the value of a company. Despite its intangible nature, brand is capable of generating up to 70% of company's profit. In the present paper the question of brand is regarded in terms of possibilities of utilizing brand's competitive potential in building company's competitiveness. The research endeavors to provide a clear and compelling empirical demonstration of brand's competitive potential creation based on the practices of Polish jewelry brands. Among the fundamental objectives of the study the following ones can be identified:

1. • presentation of brand's structure,

2. • identification of functions performed by brand,

3. • specification of the phenomena responsible for the increasing role of brand in building and sustaining company's competitive advantage,

4. • review of possibilities of using brand equity at the strategic level,

5. • introduction of the brand's competitive potential framework,

6. • measurement of competitive potential of Polish jewelry brands.

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND EQUITY IN CREATING THE VALUE OF A COMPANY

1.1 THE CONCEPT OF BRAND

A key premise behind the increasing role of intangible assets in creating value of a company is the difference between the market value of an organization and the book value of its net assets [Suszyński 2007, p. 323]. If managed effectively, intangible assets make up from 50% to 90% of the value of business depending on the profile of the industry [Dzinkowska 2000, p. 32].