‘Value of tech, new media brands rising much faster’

The 14th edition of Interbrand’s annual ‘Best Global Brands Report’ saw Coca-Cola being dislodged from its number one slot by Apple. Coca-Cola moved to number three, while another technology major Google moved to second place behind Apple, up from number four last year

The report on the top 100 global brands determines a brand's value based on its financial performance, role it plays in influencing consumer choice, and its ability to command a premium price.

The top 10 brands listed by the report for 2013, and their rise/decline in value from last year in percentage terms, are:

Jez Frampton, global chief executive officer, Interbrand, said, “Every so often, a company changes our lives - not just with its products, but with its ethos. This is why, following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Apple now ranks at number one. Tim Cook has assembled a solid leadership team and has kept Steve Jobs’ vision intact - a vision that has allowed Apple to deliver on its promise of innovation time and time again.”

Ashish Mishra, managing director, Interbrand India, said, “For the first time in the report’s 14-year history, Coca-Cola is no longer number one. This year, Apple claims the top spot – and Google captures the second position. This to our minds is the single biggest story of the new times, of a changed world.”

On the rise of Apple as a brand, Mishra said, “It is about the Apple culture. We say that brands today define people and one can emphatically say that Apple defines people and they very proudly wear the Apple badge. Further, the brand has done phenomenally well in the financial arena as well. Last year was the best financial year Apple has had. This is a milestone moment in history.

“It’s not that Coca Cola is doing something wrong. In fact, it continues to be one of the most recognised brands in the world. It’s just that the role of the brands in territories such as technology and new media has become so high that the value of the brands that are operating in those categories is growing much faster. For instance, Google touches your life through various mediums (mobile, desktop, tablet) which can be accessed from anywhere - home, car, office etc. It is extremely pervasive as against conventional brands. Hence, the growth in the value of technology brands this year,” explained Mishra.

This year, the total value of the 100 best global brands is US $ 1.5 trillion, an 8.4 percent increase over last year.

Prada rises; Blackberry, Yahoo missing

Six technology brands were in the top ten list this year: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, IBM and Intel. Of the five ‘top rising brands’, besides luxury brand Prada, the rest were technology brands: Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon.

The largest decline in brand value was recorded by Finnish handset maker Nokia. It experienced a 65 per cent decline in value, moving to the 57 from 19 in the ranking. Blackberry and Yahoo did not feature in this year’s report.

Mishra explained, “Leadership is the theme of this year’s report. Brands which were able to lead, anticipate the future, undertake co-creation instead of domination, participate in conversations with consumers, carry on innovations, invest in people and big data, and undertake strategic corporate social responsibility have emerged as the top rankers in the report”.

Media brand Discovery, battery brand Duracell, and auto major Chevrolet are the new entrants on the rankings chart this year.

On the absence of Indian brands in the list, Mishra reasoned, “There is a set of criteria relating to financial performance, brand recognition and profile. To be a best global brand, the benchmark criteria are that the brand be recognised and have a broad profile across the top ten highest GDP countries.”