Google has overtaken Apple to become the world’s most valuable global brand in the 2014 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand ranking. Google is valued at $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 $148 billion.

While 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 $108 billion, said a BrandZ statement.

Nick Cooper, managing director of Millward Brown Optimor, said: “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.”

“This year’s index highlights the end of the recession, with a strong recovery in valuations and, for the first time, real growth across every category and the Top 100 as a whole,” said David Roth, CEO of The Store, WPP. “What’s remarkable is the way that strong brands have led the recovery. Seventy-one of the brands listed in our 2014 Top 100 were there in 2008. Despite the financial turmoil and the digital disruption that have decimated many businesses during the last few years, these brands have remained in the ranking, proving the durability of strong brands.”

The 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.  

The combined value of the Top 100 has nearly doubled since the first ranking was produced in 2006. The Top 100 today are worth $2.9 trillion, an increase of 49pc compared with the 2008 valuation, which marked the start of the banking and currency crisis, the statement said.

The BrandZ Top 10 most valuable global brands for 2014 are: 1. Google ($158.843 billion); 2. Apple ($147.88bn); 3. IBM ($107.541bn); 4. Microsoft ($90.185bn) 5.    McDonald's ($85.706bn); 6. Coca-Cola ($80.683bn) 7. Visa ($79.197bn) 8.    AT&T ($77.883bn) 9. Marlboro     ($67.341bn); 10. Amazon ($64.255bn)

Key findings highlighted in this year’s 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.

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 10pc to $22.6 billion.  Another shining example from a consumer perspective of a brand with a high level purpose is MTN.  The telecoms operator has continued to find huge success on the back of its “everywhere you go” payoff line, enabling Africa, with a brand value of $10.2 billion, the statement said.  

Apparel fastest growing category:  The top 10 apparel brands grew in value by 29pc to nearly $100 billion this year, outpacing cars (up 17pc) and retail (up 16pc). With brands such as Uniqlo, Nike and Adidas all recording double-digit increases in their valuation.

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 97pc to $54 billion and the No 14 position, followed by Facebook which rose 68pc to $36 billion and took the No 21 spot. New brands in the Top 100 include Twitter at No 71 with a brand value of $14 billion and LinkedIn at No 78 worth $12 billion. Collectively, Technology companies make up 29pc of the value of the BrandZ Top 100 ranking.

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 44.7pc, the BrandZ portfolio grew by 81.1pc, proving that companies with strong brands are able to deliver better value to their shareholders.  - TradeArabia News Service