Apple Tops Coca-Cola, Google to Become World's Most Valuable Brand

Every so often, a company changes our lives, not just with its products, but also with its ethos. This is why, following Coca-Cola's 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Interbrand has a new #1--Apple. Few brands have enabled so many people to do so much so easily, which is why Apple has legions of adoring fans, as evidenced by the record-breaking launch of the iPhone 5c/5s. For revolutionizing the way we work, play, and communicate--and for mastering the ability to surprise and delight--Apple has set a high bar for aesthetics, simplicity, and ease of use that all other tech brands are now expected to match, and that Apple itself is expected to continually exceed.

From our perspective, Apple's internal brand strength has remained steady. CEO Tim Cook has assembled a solid team that is aligned around the Apple vision, which has allowed them to deliver against the promise time and time again. There's been a lot of change at the top in the last 12 months, but the alignment of both hardware and software design under Jonathan Ive is a major step toward maintaining focus. A shrewd move, perhaps, given the stiffer than ever competition over the last 12 months: Samsung is now the world's most profitable smartphone manufacturer, Google has expanded Android and its maps still seem to be the "preferred" route, and Windows Phone 8 certainly raised more than a few eyebrows.

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