The Top 100 Most Powerful Brands
The 10th official ranking of the top 100 most powerful brands has just been published.
This ranking was created in 1998 by Millward Brown, a market analysis and consulting company. It values and ranks the top 100 brands as well as the top brands in 16 categories, and calculates the degree to which brand equity plays a role in generating earnings (Brand Contribution); also, how much the brand is expected to grow in the short term (Brand Momentum).
In order to determine brand contribution, the Brandz study was conducted, involving more than 1 million consumers in 31 countries. Consumers were asked to compare over 50,000 brands in 16 categories (such as automotive, coffee, fast food, mineral water, household appliances and so on) and to name which characteristics are most important to them when choosing these products.
The financial performance analysis, estimated based on financial data from Bloomberg and Datamonitor, among others, was twofold: firstly, the value generated by the companies in question, by brand and by market, was evaluated. Then, the development perspectives were estimated in terms of market shares still available in recently entered markets.
The results
The market has again been favorable to huge brands this year – we have seen a combined rise in value of the Top 100 brands by 21%, from €1.6 trillion in 2007 to €1.94 trillion in 2008, more than doubling the growth rate registered last year.
The clear winner this year (again) is Google with a brand value of €86.1 billion dollars, followed by General Electric (GE) with 71 billion dollars. Microsoft ranks third with 70.8 billion dollars.
Apple boasts the best results in terms of brand value performance, as its value increased by 30 billion dollars. Blackberry has entered the ranking and jumped straight to 51, which corresponds to a brand value increase of 390%.
When comparing sectors, mobile operators are at the top of the growth race, their brand value having increased by 35%. New technologies come in second with a 35% growth, followed by Personal Care and, ironically enough, fast food, both of which achieved an increase of 27%….
When it comes to markets, emerging countries play a key role in brand value growth for international brands such as Apple and Gucci. But “local” brands in these countries also prove to be very dynamic; for example, the Indian bank ICICI, the famous Brazilian beer Brahma, or the Russian mobile operator MTS, which is the first Russian brand to enter the Top 100. It ranks 89th with a brand value of 8.1 billion dollars.
If you would like to know more about the Top 100 results by sector or by market, check out the Brandz study online.
Tags: brand, google, Ranking, Top 100
