Hot on the heels of being named this year’s top superbrand, Google has once again topped the list of the world’s most powerful brands in the latest annual Brandz survey of 50,000 worldwide firms. With a brand value worth $86.1 billion, the internet search giant fought off competition from GE ($71.4b) and Microsoft ($70.9b) amongst others.
The Top 10 Brands are:
| Position | Company | Brand Value ($m) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 86,057 | |
| 2 | GE | 71,379 |
| 3 | Microsoft | 70,887 |
| 4 | Coca-Cola | 58,208 |
| 5 | China Mobile | 57,225 |
| 6 | IBM | 55,335 |
| 7 | Apple | 55,206 |
| 8 | McDonald’s | 49,499 |
| 9 | Nokia | 43,975 |
| 10 | Marlboro | 37,324 |
But it’s not just Google that has something to celebrate. The trend shows that brands are continuing to grow more powerful, highlighted in no small part by the fact that the combined value of the top 100 brands has increased since last year by 21% to $1.94 trillion.
Eight of the top 10 brands are American, with Chinese telecommunications powerhouse China Mobile taking fifth spot. The highest ranking UK brand is Vodafone at number 11.
Since these companies, which have all invested in creating strong brands, are growing in strength in spite of testing market conditions, it demonstrates clearly the importance that branding can play.
Of course the above is just one measure of the effectiveness of branding – as we will see later in the week, branding also has much to do with the positive and negative feelings we attach to companies and their products. In other words, whether we love or hate a brand.
More information about branding can be found in the following white papers:
