Coke Retains Top Spot as Best Global Brand
Coca-Cola, Apple and IBM lead Interbrand’s 13th annual Best Global Brands report. While Coca-Cola retained its No. 1 position, Apple jumped to No. 2, with stellar sales in both developed and emerging markets over the last year. Social media giant, Facebook (#69), enters the report after making headlines as the third-largest IPO in U.S. history, and Google (#4) experienced a 26 percent increase in brand value over the last year, exceeding rival Microsoft’s (#5) brand value for the first time in the history of Interbrand’s report.
“As global competition increases and many competitive advantages, like technology, become more short-lived, a brand’s contribution to shareholder value will only increase,” notes Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s global chief executive officer. “The world’s 100 most valuable brands are leading the way by listening to consumers, employees, and investors alike, and delivering a seamless and holistic brand experience across an ever-evolving range of touchpoints.”
New entrants to the global listing include Pampers, Facebook, Prada, Kia, Ralph Lauren, and MasterCard. Here are a few of their highlights:
· Pampers (#34): Pampers, the top-selling diaper brand in the United States and P&G’s No. 1-selling brand in the world, earned the highest ranking position among this year’s new entrants. Pampers has effectively used social media platforms and loyalty programs to connect to its consumer base.
· Facebook (#69): Facebook’s IPO in May enabled Interbrand to examine the social media behemoth’s financials for the first time. Despite its rocky start as a publicly listed stock and lingering uncertainty about its business model, Facebook’s growth as a brand, especially in developing markets, earns it a position in this year’s report.
· Prada (#84): Prada returns to the Best Global Brands report this year. The brand’s continued growth in revenue is fueled largely by 250+ directly operated stores worldwide — a network that has expanded by keeping a careful eye on increasingly sophisticated customers in developing markets.
· Kia (#87): For the past few years, Kia has been one of the fastest-growing global automotive brands. In the US, Kia’s market share has grown for 17 consecutive years and its sales numbers continue to rise, even in the troubled European marketplace.
· Ralph Lauren (#91): Making its first appearance in the top 100 since 2009, Ralph Lauren’s notable brand growth in the past year can be attributed to highly innovative communication patterns and consistency across all touchpoints and formats.
The top-rising brands on the 2012 Interbrand roster include Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Nissan, and Oracle. Here are some of their company highlights:
· Apple (+129 percent): Despite Steve Jobs’ passing, consumers’ emotional connection to the Apple brand remains stronger than ever; this was made clear just recently with the launch of iPhone 5. Even in the face of increasing competition from rivals Google and Samsung, the company continues to demonstrate its commitment to protecting the Apple brand and its intellectual property. Such commitment enabled Apple to post quarterly revenue of $35 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.8 billion in July.
· Amazon (+46 percent): Amazon has introduced the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire in 175 countries, stretching the Kindle beyond its e-reader origins and turning it into a serious rival to the iPad. The Kindle Fire now enjoys the world’s second-largest tablet market share.
· Samsung (+40 percent): Samsung became the global leader for smartphone shipments in 2011 ahead of Apple and Nokia. Samsung also generated a great deal of online buzz by integrating its Galaxy SIII and Note into the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Despite its legal battle with Apple, Samsung’s global market share is 32.6 percent and its brand value increased by a meteoric 40 percent in the past year.
· Nissan (+30 percent): Nissan recovered quickly from last year’s natural disasters in Japan and grew its market share by pushing the envelope on innovation and by creating bold vehicle designs like that of the Nissan Juke. Nissan’s ability to overcome challenges and continually innovate caught the attention of consumers and helped increase its brand value by 30 percent.
· Oracle (+28 percent): Oracle has been branching out beyond database solutions in order to stay ahead of competitors. The company continues to make strategic acquisitions and grow its capabilities and offerings, especially in cloud computing.
With four of the five top-risers hailing from the technology sector, it’s clear that technology brands continued their strong push of recent years. As further proof, five of this year’s Top 10 brands come from within the technology sector (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Samsung). Apple, in particular, experienced record growth in
brand value.
Despite the current economic landscape, all of the luxury brands in this year’s report increased their brand value. As the meaning of luxury shifts, this year’s top luxury brands reflect a changing global consciousness, with success dependent not only upon a portfolio of superior products and superb quality of service, but also a strong cohesive brand, a formidable digital presence, and reputation that is timeless, elevated, and refined. The 2012 Best Global Brand report includes seven luxury brands: Louis Vuitton (#17), Gucci (#38), Herms (#63), Cartier (#68), Tiffany & Co. (#70), Burberry (#82) and Prada (#84).
The rise in value of several Fast Moving Consumer Goods/Consumer Packaged Goods (FMCG/CPG) brands — Kellogg’s (#29), L’Oral (#42), Heinz (#46), Colgate (#47), Danone (#52), Nestl (#57), and Johnson & Johnson (#79) — reflect successful growth, especially in the developing markets. Another growing trend observed this year was the increasing number of FMCG brands expanding into the healthcare space. Avon (#71) and Kleenex (#80) were the only two brands to lose brand value (-4 percent and -7 percent, respectively).
Interbrand publishes its Best Global Brands report of the world’s 100 most valuable brands on an annual basis. To develop its report, Interbrand examines three key aspects that contribute to a brand’s value:
• The financial performance of the branded products or service;
• The role the brand plays in influencing consumer choice, and
• The strength the brand has to command a premium price, or secure earnings for the company.
For a complete listing of Interbrand’s 2012 Best Global Brands report, click here.