Google beats Apple to become world’s most valuable brand
Google has overtaken Apple to become the world’s most valuable global brand in the 2014, according to BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand ranking, worth USD 159 billion, an increase of 40 per cent year on year.
After three years at the top, Apple slipped to No 2 on the back of a 20 per cent decline in brand value, to USD 148 billion. Whilst Apple remains a top performing brand, there is a growing perception that it is no longer redefining technology for consumers, reflected by a lack of dramatic new product launches. The world’s leading B2B brand, IBM, held onto its No 3 position with a brand value of USD 108 billion.
“Google has been hugely innovative in the last year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intelligence and a multitude of partnerships that see its Android operating system becoming embedded in other goods such as cars. All of this activity sends a very strong signal to consumers about what Google is about and it has coincided with a slowdown at Apple,” said Nick Cooper, Managing Director of Millward Brown Optimor.
BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, is now in its ninth year. It is the only ranking that uses the views of potential and current buyers of a brand, alongside financial data, to calculate brand value.
| Rank 2014 | Brand | Category | Brand Value 2014 ($M) | Brand Value Change | Rank 2013 |
| 1 | Technology | 1,58,843 | 40% | 2 | |
| 2 | Apple | Technology | 1,47,880 | -20% | 1 |
| 3 | IBM | Technology | 1,07,541 | -4% | 3 |
| 4 | Microsoft | Technology | 90,185 | 29% | 7 |
| 5 | McDonald’s | Fast Food | 85,706 | -5% | 4 |
| 6 | Coca-Cola | Soft Drinks | 80,683 | 3% | 5 |
| 7 | Visa | Credit Cards | 79,197 | 41% | 9 |
| 8 | AT&T | Telecoms | 77,883 | 3% | 6 |
| 9 | Marlboro | Tobacco | 67,341 | -3% | 8 |
| 10 | Amazon | Retail | 64,255 | 41% | 14 |
Key findings highlighted in this year’s research report include:
• Share of Life: Successful brands such as Google (No 1 brand), Facebook, Twitter, Tencent and LinkedIn are more than just tools, they have become part of our lives. They offer new forms of communication that absorb people’s attention and imagination, while also helping them organise the rest of their lives at the same time. To gain more of our mind-space, brands such as Tencent and Google are even crossing categories. This trend also pushed No 1 Apparel brand Nike, a prime example of a brand seeking to become a share of life brand which offers services such as Nike+ that extend well beyond its functional raison d’etre.
• Technology service companies continue to climb: Not only are the top four brands technology companies, but so too are many of this year’s biggest risers. This year’s fastest climber was leading Chinese internet brand Tencent, up 97 per cent to USD 54 billion and the No 14 position, followed by Facebook which rose 68 per cent to USD 36 billion and took the No 21 spot. New brands in the Top 100 include Twitter at No 71 with a brand value of USD 14 billion and LinkedIn at No 78 worth USD 12 billion. Collectively, technology companies make up 29 per cent of the value of the BrandZ Top 100 ranking.
• Brands from the Western World bounced back in 2014, with a greater proportion of both the number and value of brands within the top 100. This reflected the resilience of established brands and the breakthrough of new brands, as well as improved economic conditions. As a result, the number of brands from fast growing economies slipped in 2014.China, with 11 brands, continues to have the largest representation, two Russian brands, Sberbank and MTS, remain in the ranking, and mobile operator MTN is Africa’s representative for the third consecutive year.
• High value brands provide faster growth: An analysis of the BrandZ rankings as a ‘stock portfolio’ over the last nine years shows a highly favourable performance compared to a wider stock market index, the S&P500. While the value of the companies in the S&P500 index grew by 44.7 per cent, the BrandZ portfolio grew by 81.1 per cent, proving that companies with strong brands are able to deliver better value to their shareholders.
• Purpose beyond Profit: Brands in business for reasons beyond the bottom line have a better chance of success in today’s world. For example, Pampers, which promotes mother and baby health issues, is at No 39 in the ranking and grew its value by 10 per cent to USD 22.6 billion. Dove, which has continued to find huge success on the back of its “real women” philosophy, has a brand value of USD 4.8 billion.
• Apparel fastest growing category: The top 10 Apparel brands grew in value by 29 per cent to nearly USD 100 billion this year, outpacing Cars (up 17 per cent) and Retail (up 16 per cent). With brands such as Uniqlo, Nike and Adidas all recording double-digit increases in their valuation.
The combined value of the Top 100 has nearly doubled since the first ranking was produced in 2006. The Top 100 today are worth USD 2.9 trillion, an increase of 49 per cent compared with the 2008 valuation, which marked the start of the banking and currency crisis.
