NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Google, Zara, Apple, and Nintendo are among this year's top gainers in BusinessWeek's annual ranking of The Best Global Brands. For the seventh consecutive year, BusinessWeek has teamed up with Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, to publish a ranking of the top 100 global brands by brand value.
Reviving even a storied brand isn't easy once consumers have a negative perception of it. Just ask Ford or Gap, which lost 19% and 15% of their brand value, respectively, in this year's BusinessWeek/Interbrand annual ranking of the 100 Best Global Brands. Even such perennial winners as Coca-Cola (No. 1) can have trouble boosting their brand. The beverage giant claimed the top spot for the seventh year in a row mostly because it is big and everywhere, but it failed to further grow its reputation because its move into healthier drinks has yet to resonate.
Still, it's possible to stage a brand comeback. Several such stories emerged in this year's ranking. While it's tempting for a challenged brand to emulate the likes of Google (No. 20), Apple (No. 33), or Starbucks (No. 88), doing so can seem audacious at best, delusional at worst. A potentially more useful exercise: examining brands that have stumbled but recovered. Take Nokia Corp. (No. 5): The Finnish giant realized its focus on making cheap handsets for the developing world was hurting in the U.S. and Europe. Nokia released high-end phones aimed at both the consumer and business user and is showing strength in emerging and mature markets alike.
BusinessWeek chose Interbrand's methodology because it evaluates brand value in the same way any other corporate asset is valued-on the basis of how much it is likely to earn for the company in the future. Interbrand uses a combination of analysts' projections, company financial documents, and its own qualitative and quantitative analysis to arrive at a net present value of those earnings. Interbrand takes many ingredients into account when ranking the value of the Best Global Brands. Even to qualify for the list, each brand must derive at least a third of its earnings outside its home country, be recognizable outside of its base of customers, and have publicly available marketing and financial data.
BusinessWeek's special report, The Best Global Brands, (August 6th issue) will be available at http://www.businessweek.com/ at 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, July 26th and on newsstands Monday, July 30th.
About BusinessWeek:
BusinessWeek is a leading global business media organization, providing unparalleled insight and analysis to a worldwide audience of business leaders. Founded in 1929 and published by the McGraw-Hill Companies, BusinessWeek magazine is the market leader, with more than 4.8 million readers each week in 140 countries. Local language editions include Chinese, Russian, and Bahasa Indonesian. Launched in 1994, BusinessWeek.com is the preeminent provider of daily, essential business news, information, and services to business decision-makers. Reaching 85% of the nation's households, BusinessWeek Weekend delivers important business, consumer and financial news to television viewers every week.
About Interbrand
Interbrand, the leading brand consultancy, combines the rigorous strategy and analysis of a management consulting practice with the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of branding and design. The company offers a comprehensive array of consulting services that guide clients in the creation, enhancement, maintenance and valuation of their most valuable asset -- their brands. Founded in 1974, Interbrand has offices in over 30 cities in more than 20 countries around the globe and clients from among the most respected businesses. For more information visit the world's only online exchange about branding, produced by Interbrand, at http://www.brandchannel.com/
BusinessWeek/Interbrand's Annual Ranking of The Best Global Brands For 2007
Rank Company 2007 Percent
Brand Change Country of
Value (over 2006) Ownership
$MILLIONS
1 Coca-Cola 65,324 -3 % U.S.
2 Microsoft 58,709 3 % U.S.
3 IBM 57,091 2 % U.S.
4 GE 51,569 5 % U.S.
5 Nokia 33,696 12 % Finland
6 Toyota 32,070 15 % Japan
7 Intel 30,954 -4 % U.S.
8 McDonald's 29,398 7 % U.S.
9 Disney 29,210 5 % U.S.
10 Mercedes-Benz 23,568 8 % Germany
11 Citi 23,443 9 % U.S.
12 Hewlett-Packard 22,197 9 % U.S.
13 BMW 21,612 10 % Germany
14 Marlboro 21,283 0 % U.S.
15 American Express 20,827 6 % U.S.
16 Gillette 20,415 4 % France
17 Louis Vuitton 20,321 15 % U.S.
18 Cisco 19,099 9 % U.S.
19 Honda 17,998 6 % Japan
20 Google 17,837 44 % U.S.
21 Samsung 16,853 4 % S. Korea
22 Merrill Lynch 14,343 10 % U.S.
23 HSBC 13,563 17 % Britain
24 Nescafe 12,950 4 % Switzerland
25 Sony 12,907 10 % Japan
26 Pepsi 12,888 2 % U.S.
27 Oracle 12,448 9 % U.S.
28 UPS 12,013 12 % U.S.
29 Nike 12,004 10 % U.S.
30 Budweiser 11,652 0 % U.S.
31 Dell 11,554 -6 % U.S.
32 JPMorgan 11,433 12 % U.S.
33 Apple 11,037 21 % U.S.
34 SAP 10,850 8 % Germany
35 Goldman Sachs 10,663 11 % U.S.
36 Canon 10,581 6 % Japan
37 Morgan Stanley 10,340 6 % U.S.
38 Ikea 10,087 15 % Sweden
39 UBS 9,838 13 % Switzerland
40 Kellogg's 9,341 6 % U.S.
41 Ford 8,982 -19 % U.S.
42 Philips 7,741 15 % Netherlands
43 Siemens 7,737 -1 % Germany
44 Nintendo 7,730 18 % Japan
45 Harley-Davidson 7,718 0 % U.S.
46 Gucci 7,697 8 % Italy
47 AIG 7,490 NEW U.S.
48 eBay 7,456 10 % U.S.
49 AXA 7,327 NEW France
50 Accenture 7,296 8 % Bermuda
51 L'Oreal 7,045 10 % France
52 MTV 6,907 4 % U.S.
53 Heinz 6,544 5 % U.S.
54 Volkswagen 6,511 8 % Germany
55 Yahoo! 6,067 0 % U.S.
56 Xerox 6,050 2 % U.S.
57 Colgate 6,025 7 % U.S.
58 Chanel 5,830 13 % France
59 Wrigley's 5,777 6 % U.S.
60 KFC 5,682 6 % U.S.
61 Gap 5,481 -15 % U.S.
62 Amazon.com 5,411 15 % U.S.
63 Nestle 5,314 8 % Switzerland
64 Zara 5,165 22 % Spain
65 Avon 5,103 1 % U.S.
66 Caterpillar 5,059 10 % U.S.
67 Danone 5,019 8 % France
68 Audi 4,866 17 % Germany
69 adidas 4,767 11 % Germany
70 Kleenex 4,600 -5 % U.S.
71 Rolex 4,589 8 % Switzerland
72 Hyundai 4,453 9 % S. Korea
73 Hermes 4,255 10 % France
74 Pizza Hut 4,254 -9 % U.S.
75 Porsche 4,235 8 % Germany
76 Reuters 4,197 6 % Britain
77 Motorola 4,149 -9 % U.S.
78 Panasonic 4,135 4 % Japan
79 Tiffany & Co. 4,003 5 % U.S.
80 Allianz 3,957 NEW Germany
81 ING 3,880 12 % Netherlands
82 Kodak 3,874 -12 % U.S.
83 Cartier 3,852 15 % France
84 BP 3,794 -5 % Britain
85 Moet & Chandon 3,739 15 % France
86 Kraft 3,732 -5 % U.S.
87 Hennessy 3,638 2 % France
88 Starbucks 3,631 17 % U.S.
89 Duracell 3,605 1 % U.S.
90 Johnson & Johnson 3,445 8 % U.S.
91 Smirnoff 3,379 11 % Britain
92 Lexus 3,354 9 % Japan
93 Shell 3,331 5 % Britain
94 Prada 3,286 14 % Italy
95 Burberry 3,221 16 % Britain
96 Nivea 3,116 16 % Germany
97 LG 3,100 3 % S. Korea
98 Nissan 3,072 -1 % Japan
99 Polo RL 3,046 NEW U.S.
100 Hertz 3,026 NEW U.S.
