Apple Again Ranked as World's Most Valuable Brand

MacRumors · May 22, 2012

Studies of "brand value" are always difficult to compare, as widely differing methodologies used by those measuring such data yield markedly different results. But tracking year-to-year movements using a consistent methodology can offer some interesting perspectives, and so Millward's Brown's latest BrandZ study (via The Next Web) makes for a good look at trends in marketing and branding.

In the 2012 brand rankings released today, Apple tops the list for the second year in a row, scoring a brand value of nearly $183 billion as compared to last year's $153 billion figure that saw Apple move into the top position for the first time. Apple's 19% growth was the strongest among the top ten brands.

David Roth for WPP said "Brands help businesses create competitive differentiation, command a price premium and become more resilient to crises or economic turbulence. This year, those businesses that leveraged technology, focused on the customer experience or boosted control of their brands thrived."

Apple continues to innovate and maintain its 'luxury' brand status, but faces future competition from Samsung. Now worth more than $14.1 billion, thanks in part to the success of its Galaxy handsets, Samsung is successfully outpacing Apple in a significant number of markets by positioning as a cool, well-priced alternative to the ubiquitous iPhone."

Still, Samsung's brand value of $14.1 billion for a 55th place ranking paled in comparison to Apple, and the company's 16% growth in brand value was unable to match Apple's performance.

Among other top brands, IBM passed Google to take the second spot in the rankings with a brand value of nearly $116 billion as seven of the top ten spots were held by technology or communications companies. Facebook saw the largest percentage gain among top companies, with its brand value jumping by 74% to $33 billion, a leap of sixteen places to number 19 in the rankings.

Article Link: Apple Again Ranked as World's Most Valuable Brand

badtzwang · May 22, 2012

I'm surprised IBM is so high on that list ... If anything, I would think McDonalds would be higher.

imgonephishin · May 22, 2012

Given that AT&T and Verizon cracked the top 10, I'm not sure how much I trust these rankings. What about Nike? GE? Amazon.com?

Edit: I decided to check out the full 100 list. Looks like GE and Amazon.com were close at 11 and 18, respectively. But Nike was 44th? Behind such venerable brands as HP, SAP, and HSBC? Yeah, sure.

neiltc13 · May 22, 2012

Does this really cover the world's most valuable brands?

I'm surprised that AT&T and Verizon are listed here, given the limited number of people who are exposed to their products. Surely Vodafone and T-Mobile are more valuable given how many more subscribers they have.

(According to this

AT&T: 100m
Verizon: 108m
T-Mobile: 328m
Vodafone: 439m)

AppleFan1984 · May 22, 2012

badtzwang said:
I'm surprised IBM is so high on that list ... If anything, I would think McDonalds would be higher.

Yeah, kinda a good sign that it ranks higher than Mickey D. Makes me nostalgic; IBM feels like the '70s.

nepalisherpa · May 22, 2012

I am just glad that this rating did not consider Facebook as a brand!

gregwyattjr · May 22, 2012

Proof that Apple has overcome the Big Blue.

imgonephishin · May 22, 2012

gregwyattjr said:
Proof that Apple has overcome the Big Blue.

I thought that proof came with the fact that AAPL's market cap is over twice that of IBM...

tigres · May 22, 2012

Why are these stories coming out so late on MR? This news was out this AM on multiple sites.
Curious is all

east85 · May 22, 2012

Hopefully Cook doesn't mess this up. Steve Jobs was a great visionary, Tim Cook just reminds me of a typical fat cat.

newagemac · May 22, 2012

Not surprised Google dropped in brand value. Their recent privacy violations and other unwanted actions didn't sit well with many people and the Google name has lost quite a bit of the positive association it used to have.

The "don't be evil" thing was actually something people believed around 2006 or so but lately it has become a running joke.

GoodWatch · May 22, 2012

AppleFan1984 said:
Yeah, kinda a good sign that it ranks higher than Mickey D. Makes me nostalgic; IBM feels like the '70s.

Except when you are running your business on iSeries (AS/400) machines that never, ever fail or stop. 20 hours of planned down time per year, no unplanned downtime. Yes, very 70's indeed!

koolmagicguy · May 22, 2012

Not too surprised. Apple makes a lot of money from taking 30%.

And good ol' Marlboro! Maybe if AT&T started selling cigarettes they'd be more popular.

GSPice · May 22, 2012

east85 said:
Hopefully Cook doesn't mess this up. Steve Jobs was a great visionary, Tim Cook just reminds me of a typical fat cat.

I guess you don't really know Mr. Cook, then. You must have been real close to Steve.

AustinIllini · May 22, 2012

neiltc13 said:
Does this really cover the world's most valuable brands?

I'm surprised that AT&T and Verizon are listed here, given the limited number of people who are exposed to their products. Surely Vodafone and T-Mobile are more valuable given how many more subscribers they have.

(According to this

AT&T: 100m
Verizon: 108m
T-Mobile: 328m
Vodafone: 439m)

If the value were based on users, you would be right. Problem is Americans pay a major premium for Verizon and AT&T services. If I pay ten times as much for my mobile service and I'm one person, aren't I equally as valuable as ten people?

----------

The Vodafone list include Verizon subscribers. Your point is still a good one, but just an FYI.

3N16MA · May 22, 2012

#27: Oracle
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#43: Disney
#44: Nike

Oracle is a massive company but I find it hard to believe their brand is more valuable than Nike and Disney.

Dustman · May 22, 2012

3N16MA said:
#27: Oracle
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#43: Disney
#44: Nike

Oracle is a massive company but I find it hard to believe their brand is more valuable than Nike and Disney.

Agreed, something is fishy about this list.

yetanotherdave · May 22, 2012

Spetsnazos said:
some random guy

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millward_Brown

Millward Brown is a global company focused on brands, media and communications. It is part of Kantar Group, the insights arm of WPP plc, and the worlds second largest market research organization after Nielsen Company.

Yup, just some dude in the street with a clipboard and a clicker.

AustinIllini · May 22, 2012

3N16MA said:
#27: Oracle
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#43: Disney
#44: Nike

Oracle is a massive company but I find it hard to believe their brand is more valuable than Nike and Disney.

If this were a most popular brand naming list, these two would be the names on the top, without a doubt.

adcx64 · May 22, 2012

Ought to put a smile on Steve's face.

Dr McKay · May 22, 2012

Microsoft is worth more than Coca Cola?

Starship77 · May 22, 2012

It's about trust and value

This reflects more how much people trust on a brand.

It has nothing to do with number of users, or how much you use it everyday or how well known the brand is.

gnasher729 · May 22, 2012

3N16MA said:
#27: Oracle
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#43: Disney
#44: Nike

Oracle is a massive company but I find it hard to believe their brand is more valuable than Nike and Disney.

Some CIO says "I'll buy this database for a million because it's named "Oracle"". Some teenager says "I'll buy these shoes because they are named "Nike"". That's what "brand value" means; the amount of money people pay because it's the brand. I could imagine that many more people pay for the name Nike or Disney, but the few people who pay for the name Oracle pay a lot more money.

AustinIllini · May 22, 2012

Starship77 said:
This reflects more how much people trust on a brand.

It has nothing to do with number of users, or how much you use it everyday or how well known the brand is.

Now that definitely doesn't explain microsoft

gnasher729 said:
Some CIO says "I'll buy this database for a million because it's named "Oracle"". Some teenager says "I'll buy these shoes because they are named "Nike"". That's what "brand value" means; the amount of money people pay because it's the brand. I could imagine that many more people pay for the name Nike or Disney, but the few people who pay for the name Oracle pay a lot more money.

Let's look at Disney. For instance, if I want to build a theme park and I work with six flags, I can charge around $40 for admission. Let's say Disney slaps its name on a theme park. The result is single day $80 tickets.

The Apple name is simply worth so much more than it's competitors. More people wait for Apple's response to a product or new technology than anyone else. Apple doesn't just double revenue like Disney over Six Flags, it makes 100 times as much as its competitors by selling more expensive products to hundreds of times the number of people.

Starship77 · May 22, 2012

AustinIllini said:
Now that definitely doesn't explain microsoft

It's not trusting it's good, I mean trusting like trusting it's a serious business…

Of course a company like Microsoft is a serious business and this would be very hard to doubt even if you think their products suck…

If a product has the Microsoft brand on it, people will not be afraid to buy it, because they trust the company. Even if it end up not being as good as expected, they know they have someone to complain to.

Apple Again Ranked as World's Most Valuable Brand

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