By A Correspondent
Google has overtaken Apple to become the world’s most valuable global brand in the 2014 BrandZ TM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand ranking, worth $159 billion, an increase of 40 percent year on year.
After three years at the top, Apple slipped to No 2 on the back of a20per cent decline in brand value, to $148 billion. Whilst Apple remains atop performing brand, there is a growing perception that it is nolonger redefining technology for consumers, reflected by a lack ofdramatic new product launches. The world’s leading B2B brand, IBM,held onto its No 3 position with a brand value of $108 billion.
Nick Cooper, Managing Director of Millward Brown Optimor, commented on the number one brand, “Google has been hugely innovative in the last year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intelligence and amultitude of partnerships that see its Android operating system becoming embedded in other goods such as cars. All of this activitysends a very strong signal to consumers about what Google is about andit has coincided with a slowdown at Apple.”
“This year’s index highlights the end of the recession, with a strong recovery in valuations and, for the first time, real growth acrosse very category and the Top 100 as a whole,” said David Roth, CEO of The Store, WPP. “What’s remarkable is the way that strong brands haveled the recovery. Seventy-one of the brands listed in our 2014 Top 100were there in 2008. Despite the financial turmoil and the digital disruption that have decimated many businesses during the last few years, these brands have remained in the ranking, proving the durability of strong brands.”
The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned byWPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, is now in its ninth year.It is the only ranking that uses the views of potential and current buyers of a brand, alongside financial data, to calculate brandvalue. The ranking comes in advance of the maiden launch of BrandZ India Top 50 Most Valuable Brands, scheduled in August 2014.
Prasun Basu, Managing Director Millward Brown South Asia, said, “The BrandZ ™ Top 100 ranking highlights the value of brand building increating a tangible impact on businesses and consumers. As a result,the ranking has become a benchmark for those organisations thatleverage their brands to add value to their businesses.”
The combined value of the Global Top 100 has nearly doubled since the first ranking was produced in 2006. The Top 100 today are worth $2.9trillion, an increase of 49per cent compared with the 2008 valuation, whichmarked the start of the banking and currency crisis.
The BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands 2014 Rank 2014 includes Google at the No 1 spot, Apple at the second spot, IBM at 3, Microsoft at 4, McDonald’s at No 5, Coca-Cola at No. 6, Visa at 7, AT&T at 8, Marlboro at 9 and Amazon at the tenth spot.
Key findings highlighted in this year’s research report include:
– Share of Life: Successful brands such as Google (No 1 brand), Facebook, Twitter, Tencent and LinkedIn are more than just tools, they have become part of our lives. They offer new forms ofcommunication that absorb people’s attention and imagination, whilealso helping them organise the rest of their lives at the same time.To gain more of our mind-space, brands such as Tencent and Google areeven crossing categories. This trend also pushed No 1 Apparel brand Nike, a prime example of a brand seeking to become a share of life brand which offers services such as Nike+ that extend well beyond its functional raison d’etre.
– Purpose beyond Profit: Brands in business for reasons beyond the bottom line have a better chance of success in today’s world. Forexample, Pampers, which promotes mother and baby health issues, is at No 39 in the ranking and grew its value by 10per centto $22.6 billion. Dove,which has continued to find huge success on the back of its “realwomen” philosophy, has a brand value of $4.8 billion.
– Apparel fastest growing category: Â The top 10 Apparel brands grew in value by 29per centto nearly $100 billion this year, outpacing Cars(up 17%) and Retail (up 16%). With brands such as Uniqlo, Nike and Adidas all recording double-digit increases in their valuation.
– Technology service companies continue to climb: Not only are the top four brands technology companies,, but so too are many of this year’s biggest risers. This year’s fastest climber was leading Chinese internet brand Tencent, up 97% to $54 billion and the No 14 position,followed by Facebook which rose 68% to $36 billion and took the No 21spot. New brands in the Top 100 include Twitter at No 71 with a brandvalue of $14 billion and LinkedIn at No 78 worth $12 billion.
