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Apple, Google World's Top Brands
Anil Kandangath writes "BrandChannel readers have picked the top global brands for 2004. Apple is the leader, closely followed by Google. Arab-centric Al-Jazeera ranks fifth in global as well as Europe/Africa ratings. In regionwise ratings, Google tops North America, Ikea tops Europe/Africa, Sony tops Asia-pacific while Mexican cement brand Cemex tops Latin America An interesting fact is that Steve Jobs headed Apple is the top North American brand while his other venture Pixar comes fifth in the same zeitgeist."
because a tiny niche insignificant internet website says so !!
I can't say 1 of them shocked me.
Then again, I think with the advent of the net, things are changing.
10 years ago, not many of us Americans would know so many European brands, but now that we see ads for european products (even if they aren't available in the US), articles, etc. etc...
it's sometimes hard to remember what is in the US or not.
I'm guessing in another 10 years, that continental divide will close even more.
It appears that their North America ratings leave out a large number of countries from Mexico south to the Colombian border which are also part of North America.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Well, they are brands. Martha Stewart Living? Her name is the brand. There's of people who've turned their names into brands:
Vidal Sassoon
Tommy Hilfiger
Colonel Sanders
Antoine Bugleboy
Lazslo Panaflex
etc.
The list goes on and on.
Unknown host pong.
Why is Europe and Africa lumped together into one category? Is it the similar demographics?
This is not the sig you are looking for...
Wow! A whopping 1984 respondents worldwide, of which the US& Canada make up about 50%. Seems a bit skewed to me.
Ruger
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The shortlist comprises brands that were highly visible that year. Write in votes carry equal weight to listed brands unless the brand is already listed in the shortlist, in which case we accept up to 10 write ins for one brand.
In other words, they picked the shortlist of brands that you could vote on and the gentle readers got to rubberstamp the choice.
Where's Coca Cola? If i remind correct, they've been the top brand of recent years, followed by McDonalds and Nokia.
The fact is the three brands you mentioned are all transparent. I have my preferences of Coke vs. Pepsi, McDonalds vs. Burger King etc but they don't have the cult following. We ignore those brands because they are giant and stable, they aren't taking any risks and they plainly don't have the media love that jobs and his babies have.
Of course, it should be noted that these are marketing people voting. "Coca-cola" is still the 2nd most recognized word worldwide, after "okay", and it certainly belongs above #7 worldwide.
On the other hand, their brand saturation is so complete that they almost don't need to advertise anymore. I'd imagine marketing people prefer things that actually need some marketing to sell, as opposed to Coke, whose commercials serve no purpose anymore except to annoy people at movie theaters (does anyone ever see those commercials and think "oh, maybe that Coke stuff is good, I should try it sometime..."?)
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
That's off by about factor 10. Sorry for causing any psychological harm by pointing out the insignificance of your nation but look at the bright side. Had you been right the USA would have about 50% of the world population and I don't think the rest of the world could survive that =)
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
in some ways, sure. apple's done a lot to change their image not only for street cred (iPod) but geek cred too (BSD in OS X). google changed the way we use search engines -- such a simple webpage can find so much. apple's changing the way we think about technology now more than ever with the digital lifestyle of iLife + iPod + iMac.
- tristan
You need to think a little more clearly on this. They have visibility but if I drop you in the middle of Africa with a 12-pack of Coke and Google T-shirt guess which brand the natives are going to recognize?
Brands are very difficult thing to build. Apple/Google are currently (rightly so) should be monitored but they haven't built their brands to be recognizable world-wide yet.
For the record, Coke still stands as the #1 most recognizable brand in the world. Best of luck toppling that monstrosity.
Looks like this was a survey of readers (I am assuming marketing type folks) as to their favorite brands, not which brands are most recognizable to people.
Coca-Cola is by far the most recognizable brand in the world. You can go to rural areas in 3rd world countries and ask for a "coca-cola" or even a "coke" and they will know what you are talking about. Ask if they have an "apple" and they will most likely think of the fruit.
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I doubt that Mexicans are more likely to know Pixar. Their sloppy results left them off of "North America", and Mexico's population is much greater than that of Canada.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Right but you are still ignoring the fact that no one consciously thinks about the Coke brand.
That sounds like a great brand, established to me, then. Apple, Google, etc are simply more "buzzworthy" because they are new(er), growing, and high-tech.
One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
With accounting snafubars and corporate greed in other news, it's satisfying to see such 'Karma-positive' companies be so well-recognized.
Test signature: Brett Walker
I'm not sure what they think they're measuring in this survey, so it's kind of futile. Coke's product offerings are pretty limited. Under the Coca-Cola/Coke brand, they sell cola, reduced-calorie cola, and flavored cola. The company makes any other products, but they don't even call it "Coca-Cola brand lemon-lime soft drink" - they call it "Sprite" with no mention of the Coke brand in the name. Sure lots of people all over the world recognize this made up phrase, but so what? The term is practically generic.
Apple and Google, OTOH, have really strong brands in the sense that those names are worth money in the market. If tomorrow Apple came out with a cell phone, a PDA, a digital wristwatch, and a Swedish-made penis enlarger pump, they could price their new wares at a premium, and still shift a million units in a day. All in business areas they're not currently in. For another example, when Froogle came out, I was excited to use it, because it was from Google. Even before anyone had used it, they had already earned karma with me because I knew their name. Lots of people are speculating about a Google browser next. Surely it will get a lot of downloads the day it comes out, if it ever does. Will more people drink another Coke? Sure, but there's only so many things the Coca-Cola people can stick the name Coke on and sell, and there's only so much money they can charge for that name.
I'm not a smorgasbord.
"They completely misjudged the market, which is driven by the perception that bottled water is purer and more natural and better for you."
That perception is mostly wrong. Dasani may in fact be purified tap water and thus considered less "natural" than spring water, but at least in the U.S. is subject to higher standards of purity than the much less regulated spring water market. In addition I just read a bottled water taste test (in think in a wine-related publication) that ranked Dasani the second best tasting water behind a brand I had never heard of. There's a lot of perception and subjectivity at work here and Coke applied their knowledge of image-building to make Dasani appear to be more than it is, but none of that means that it cannot well be the superior product. I don't have an opinion on Dasani but the masses can just as easily be swayed by a groundswell of media-induced backlash as they can by the best marketing campaign.
Apple has been around 30 years and they aren't recognisable worldwide yet?
Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.