Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013. The whole ranking, based on Millward Brown’s 2013 brand list, including brand values and year-on-year changes, is from May 2013; later editions look very different.
As it does every year, the consultancy Millward Brown has published its ranking of the world’s most valuable brands by overall value, a ranking that gives a lot of weight to the opinion of more than 200 million people in countries around the world.
Curiously, in 2013, even though Apple’s growth slowed considerably, its value as a brand rose 1% compared with 2012. Here are the world’s most valuable brands.
1. Apple
Brand value: $185 billion.
Despite a harsh beating on Wall Street and speculation about its abilities as a company after the death of Steve Jobs, Apple is still the strongest brand in the eyes of consumers. Over the last 8 years, Apple’s brand value has risen by no less than 1,045%.
2. Google
Brand value: $113.7 billion.
Google is no longer just an internet search company: it has already made the leap into physical products and is part of everyone’s daily life. Maps, email, stores, music, films. Google’s brand value has risen 5% compared with 2012, and it’s expected to keep growing, because right now Google’s business is unstoppable and enormously diversified.
3. IBM
Brand value: $112.5 billion.
IBM lost 3% of its value compared with the previous year, although it’s a company that has so far won over its customers through innovation. According to a talk by its president, its plans for the coming years are to try to make the world a better place.
4. McDonald’s
Brand value: $90.3 billion.
McDonald’s lost value again for the second year in a row because of health concerns. That’s why the company’s future will involve moving more and more towards a greener menu. Who knows, maybe in time we’ll find that McDonald’s doesn’t sell burgers anymore and we can only go in for a salad :). For a start, McDonald’s is no longer just a place to eat a burger: in some restaurants, it’s a morning meeting place where people get together for coffee.
5. Coca-Cola
Brand value: $78.4 billion.
Coca-Cola’s brand value rose 6% in 2013. Its capacity to innovate is striking. While the public thinks soft drink consumption is falling, Coca-Cola is building profitable, innovative businesses on the side. For example, it has launched machines that let consumers and retailers mix their own flavors with soda syrup to customize their drinks. When did the company start doing this? Some people think it was after seeing the serious threat from a new rival, SodaStream. Even so, Coca-Cola still has a lot of market left to conquer.
The rest of the top 10
At number 6 is AT&T, whose brand value rose 10% ($71 billion); it has also had a major exclusive contract for the iPhone for some time.
Microsoft drops to number 7 in the ranking, losing 9% of its brand value to $69.8 billion, and users don’t seem very happy with the way many of its products are being combined, merged or folded together. Microsoft’s main business is selling PCs, and now we’ll have to see how it adapts to this new mobile era.
Marlboro is at number 8. Many people will wonder what a tobacco brand is doing in this ranking. It’s very simple: 25% of the world’s population smokes, and Marlboro is the brand people smoke most. Its brand value is $69 billion.
Visa makes it into the ranking after its value rose 46% compared with the previous year, thanks to the ground it has gained in online shopping and mobile payments. Its brand value is $56 billion.
And finally, at number 10, we have China Mobile, with a brand value of $55 billion. For those who don’t know it, this company is the largest mobile phone operator in China, which makes it obvious why it’s worth so much: there are far more mobile phone subscribers in China than in Europe and the United States.
Further reading
Featured image: Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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