What's the world's most valuable brand? For the past three years it's been Apple, according to the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand ranking, an annual study commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor. But as of today there's a new top brand in town, and it's Google.
While Apple's brand value has slipped by 20 per cent to $148 billion, Google's has shot up by 40 per cent, giving it a brand value - calculated from financial data as well as the views of potential and current buyers of a brand - of $149 billion, edging it into the No 1 spot and pushing Apple into second place.
"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," says Millward Brown Optimor's managing director, Nick Cooper. "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."
The full BrandZ Top 100 chart and report are available to download now from Millward Brown Optimor; if you're at all interested in what makes a successful brand you should definitely check them out.
