How much is that brand in the window?...

My final semester has begun! In less than 16 weeks, I will be walking across the IU Auditorium stage, graduate diploma in hand...well, sort of. I think they mail it to you a few weeks later, making sure you've settled all parking tickets, schedule change fees, and library borrowings. I am in a slew of great classes, including Pricing, Negotiations, Crisis Management, Legal Issues in the Arts (combined with the Masters of Arts Admin students), and Brand Asset Management. I was particularly struck in Brand Asset Management yesterday, thinking about how much a "brand" should actually be worth. My first instinct was, "Coke is so over-valued". But then, Neil Morgan pointed out that a "brand" relates back to a "maker's mark" (no, not that one...but yum). So I began thinking, if it truly is like a "maker's mark" then it is no different than what gives value to a Picasso painting or a Puccini opera. It is all about who made it. So how can Evian charge a 400% premium for its water when compared to the commodity? Surely, it is in some way related to the reason that Van Gogh's "The Doctor" sold for over $80 million.