Picture credit: wicker_man/Flickr
Apple has been ranked the top global brand for the second year running, according to a report from Interbrand.
The top five brands remains unchanged from the year before, indicating an entrenched ecosystem. Google and Coca-Cola took the silver and bronze medals respectively, while IBM and Microsoft rounded off the top five.
GE, Samsung, Toyota, McDonald’s and Mercedes-Benz completed the top 10, with the latter the only change from 2013, replacing Intel.
Apple’s top spot was no doubt influenced by the company’s recent product launches, from Apple Pay to the new iPhone 6.
“From taking your pulse and making purchases to controlling devices in your home, Apple’s supreme goal is to make everything in your life work better,” Interbrand gushed. “With sensors everywhere and the brand’s consumer interactions deepening every day, it’s safe to say that Apple is not only ‘back’, but also boldly paving the way to the Age of You.”
There were five new entries in the 2014 list; logistics firms DHL and FedEx, Land Rover, Hugo Boss, and telecoms company Huawei – the first Chinese brand ever to make it into the Interbrand list.
Apple took the top spot as best global brand from Coca-Cola last year, after the soft drinks manufacturer spent 13 years unbroken at the top of the chart. Both Apple and Google were ranked as worth more than $100bn.
“Apple and Google’s meteoric rise to more than $100bn is truly a testament to the power of brand building,” said Jez Frampton, Interbrand global CEO. “These leading brands have reached new pinnacles – in terms of both their growth and in the history of Best Global Brands – by creating experiences that are seamless, contextually relevant, and increasingly based around an overarching ecosystem of integrated products and services, both physical and digital.”
Interbrand’s system, which is ISO certified, has three key metrics for ranking brands; their financial performance, the strength of the brand to command a premium price, and the role the brand plays in influencing customer choice.
Those huge queues for the new iPhone at top price – albeit slightly cheaper than the 5S, at £539 SIM free – must have been a huge factor in Apple’s brand pull.
You can see the full list, including short essays for each brand, here.
