Australian banks also have another strong year in terms of brand value, the latest Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global brand list
Google has overtaken Apple as the world’s most valuable global brand, according to BrandZ’s 2014 Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand list.
The report put Google’s total brand value at $159 billion, an increase of 40 per cent year-on-year. In contrast, Apple slipped into second place after experiencing a 20 per cent decline in brand value to $148bn. In third place was IBM with a brand value of $108bn.
Rounding out the top five are Microsoft in fourth place with a 29 per cent rise in brand value to $90.1bn, and McDonald’s, which dipped 5 per cent to a brand value of $85bn.
Australia’s banks had another strong year in terms of brand value, with the leader, Commonwealth Bank, moving up four places to 44th position on a brand value of $21 billion. This was an 18 per cent rise year-on-year. ANZ followed in 52nd position with a 15 per cent increase in brand value to $19 billion, and Westpac also moved up three places into 85th position on the list with a 17 per cent rise in brand value to $12bn.
Across other industry verticals, the report found technology services companies continued to climb the ranks and made up 29 per cent of the total value of the top100. Tech companies also represented many of the biggest brand risers this year. This year’s fastest growth brand was Chinese Internet brand, Tencent, which rose 97 per cent to $54bn and into 14th position.
Facebook, despite its listing woes and declining youth user base, also increased its brand value by 68 per cent to $36bn and was ranked 21st. Yahoo also made a bit of a comeback, with a 44 per cent rise in brand value to $14.1bn.
The study’s authors also noted that brands in business for reasons beyond the bottom line were continuing to outperform their rivals. For example, Pampers, which promotes mother and baby issues, came in 39th on the list and grew its value by 10 per cent to $22.6bn this year. Dove, noted for its ‘real women’ brand approach, also had a strong brand value of $4.8bn.
The BrandZ study was commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor and is in its ninth year this year. In a statement, the companies stated the combined value of the top 100 brands nearly doubled in 2014 compared to its first list in 2006, to $2.9 trillion.
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