WPP owned research company Millward Brown have ranked Google number 1 once again on their listing of the top 100 global brands. This is yet another piece of good news for Google employees and shareholders alike, coming around the same time as their declaration of a surprisingly strong quarter, which drove their share price up 20 percent.
Brandz Top 100 identifies the most powerful brands in the world. The ranking is based on results from a survey conducted across 1,00,000 people and financial data from the ranked corporations.
Google’s total brand value has increased 30% and is now estimated to be worth around $86 billion. Peter Walshe, global account director at Millward Brown says, “Google’s rank has been driven by fantastic financial performance and equity value.”
Microsoft did not fare badly either, ranking third, with a 29% increase in brand value. Yahoo!, however, fared very badly, being one of only four brands in the technology sector to lose brand value. The Yahoo! brand fell 13% to make it worth just $11.5 billion.
The top five brands, Google, General Electric, Microsoft, Coca-cola and China Mobile (in that order), are therefore the same as last year, and each company has increased its estimated value by 15% to 39% in the year.
Apple is a new entrant in the top 10 list at number 7. Its value is $55.2 billion up a whopping 123% from last year, when it was at number 16. The jump in Apple’s brand value has been largely owing to the success of its new products iTouch and iPhone.
Mobile Operator, Vodafone, was the top ranking British brand, up 12 places from last year, with a 75% increase in value to $36.9 billion. It was followed by Tesco, HSBC, Marks & Spencer and Barclays in the ranking of the top UK brands.
Overall, the mobile sector showed the strongest growth in brand value, followed by technology, personal care, fast food and luxury. Porsche topped the ranking of brands with the highest brand momentum, while Louis Vuitton had the highest brand contribution.
Download Brandz Top 100 2008 Report
