The Brand Britain analysis also revealed that the value of customer relations had risen from 12% to 24% in the same period. 

"Ten years ago, brands were the single most important asset class in takeovers in the UK," the analysis reads. "The trend line during the last 10 years indicates a significant decrease for brands."

Part of the reason for this decline, according to the report, is the increasing importance of customer relations. This in turn has been attributed to businesses shifting their marketing strategies towards direct relations and interactions with customers, away from traditional mass media. 

"In B2B marketing, knowing the names and purchase histories of individual customers and directing individual, personalised marketing messages to them has been normal since long," the report read. "It is however rather new in B2C and goes far beyond traditional direct marketing.

"Digitalisation changed the lives of both marketers and consumers."