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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."
Too bad my favorite Big Green Guy didn't make the list! ;-)
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds...whatever
Amazing that Apple and Pixar both beat Coca-Cola! I'm a big fan of both, but it's hard to imagine that Coke doesn't have a larger following worldwide.
At any given time since a couple of weeks there's a front story about Apple. Now the Apple Mini and IShuffle were news. But now this one and yesterday it was about a loser who crammed pc parts in the Mac Mini. Is Apple's the new google?
This is a stolen sig.
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An interesting fact is that Steve Jobs headed Apple is the top North American brand
So which one is it?
Google's search statistics may be regarded as a similar but more accurate poll because of the much bigger sample space.
The problem is that their statistics are biased towards brands/corporations which have a bigger web presence (eg Amazon, etc) which occur in their "Top Consumer Brands" category. Hence companies like Cemex, Samsung etc do not figure in the Google Zeitgeist.
On a related note, SCO seems to be proud it figured in the Google Zeitgeist. The following quote from the "news" on their webpage (couldn't find permanent link):
SCO Ranked #1 Corporate Query Site by Google. Based on billions of searches conducted by Google users around the world, the 2004 Year-End Zeitgeist ranks SCO's corporate Website as the most searched site for the year. Find Out More Here >
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
So Interbrand asks some people who are very interested in branding what they think the top brands are. Who cares? The whole concept of a brand is to make a lasting, favorable on your customers and potential customers.
Pixar is the fifth-highest rated brand in North America? Come off it. I bet not one person in five could say who they are, let alone what they like about them. Coke, Pepsi, Levis, McDonald's, Sony, Toyota, VW all would have much higher name recognition and positive associations than Pixar not matter how good a company Pixar is (or, for example, how gross a lot of people think Mickey D's burgers are).
Insert witty sig here.
You might want to consider the sources from which you hear about Al-Jazeera from, before using that information to form an opinion...
Do you think the news you watch would tell you if Al-Jazeera had a report on anything else? No. Only "Al Jazeera does X that we wouldn't, aren't they bad?". Or "Al-Jazeera has X new tape, aren't they bad?"
Maybe they get the tapes from terrorists because:
Wow, it's been a while since I've seen that name. I remember always looking forward to the latest MacUser and MacWorld magazines to read Guy Kawasaki and and Andy Inhakto... Inhanitko? Inakto? Errr. He actually wrote a column once on the premise of how impossible it was to spell his name so I don't feel too bad not getting it right.
Great Folks. Anyone feel like saving me the Googling (speaking of brands) and give a first person account of what's become of them?
~Lake
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.11/brands.ht ml
Don't know how "scientific" this one is, all the brands listed below Coke are businesses offering services or products to other businesses. I doubt your average football (pronounced "soccer") fan would recognize Intel, but they sure as hell know Marlboro. I posit that the most recognized brands are going to be those of common consumer goods, especially those that are bad for you. E.g., Marlboro, Budweiser (in N.A.), Bacardi et. al. Also McDonalds, Starbucks, and other places ordinary people are likely to visit. Biggest audience == most recognized (by definitions). As such, I don't think the brands most recognized by suits cut it.
Where am I to go, now that I've gone too far?
You can see the top 10 list for 2004 here.
Should read:
You can see the top 10 list for 2004 based on brand "value" in dollars here
That's weird, considering that there is not 1 IKEA store in the whole of Africa.
If I had created the world I wouldn't have messed about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers
Last night's Simpsons had a spoof CGI movie preview "coming from DreamWorks" about "Cards." Starring Eddie Murphy, and a cameo by Jack Nicholson ("You can't handle the twos."). And, sadly, that spoof is pretty much what I expect from DreamWorks: big names and sound bites. What I expect from Pixar is excellent voice acting and engaging, multi-faceted plots. The fact that "Cards" sounds superficially like "Cars," which is Pixar's next film, and given the tragic history of DreamWorks essentially hashing the latest Pixar millieu, I found the spoof both droll and accurate.
Do not touch -Willie