Interbrand released its annual Best
Global Brands ranking for 2013 on September 30, 2013. The report, whose
methodology is described here,
proves once again that brands are significant business assets. The combined
value of the brands in Interbrand’s 2013 ranking equals $1.5 trillion USD.

Technology
dominates

Tech continues to dominate the top 10
brands.  Apple is now the world’s most
valuable brand at $98.316 billion, dethroning Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola held the top
ranking for a consecutive 13 years since Interbrand’s released its inaugural
Best Global Brands ranking in 2000. Google is the world’s second most valuable
brand, with a valuation of $93.291 billion.
Five of the world’s top 10 most valuable brands in the 2013 ranking are
classified by Interbrand as in the technology sector.

According to Interbrand’s 2013 ranking,
technology brands constitute 12 of the world’s 100 most valuable brands – the
second most dominant sector by number of brands in the report. While technology
brands – defined by Interbrand as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel,
Cisco, HP, Oracle, SAP, Facebook, Dell and Adobe – may constitute the second
most dominant sector in the 2013 ranking, many if not all of the remaining 88
brands in Interbrand’s ranking  have a
strong technology component to their goods/ services. Examples of those sectors
include:

• Automotive, which has the highest number of brands in this year’s
  ranking at 14 brands.
• Business services brands such as IBM and Xerox.
• Conglomerate brands such as 3M, GE and Siemens.
• Electronics brands such as Nintendo, Nokia and Sony.
• Fast moving consumer goods brands such as Duracell, Gillette, and
  Johnson & Johnson.
• Financial services brands.
• Luxury brands such as Burberry, which actively uses social media in
  its marketing.
• Media brands such as Thomson Reuters.
• Online retailers Amazon and eBay.
• Sporting goods brands Nike and Adidas.

Industry
sectors

The industry sectors in Interbrand’s 2013
ranking are:

• Alcohol beverages.
• Apparel.
• Automotive.
• Non-alcoholic beverages.
• Business services.
• Brands covering diverse industries (identified by Interbrand as the “diversified”
  sector).
• Electronics.
• Energy.
• Fast moving consumer goods.
• Financial services.
• Home furnishings.
• Luxury.
• Media.
• Restaurants.
• Retail.
• Sporting goods.
• Technology.
• Transportation.

Brands
with largest brand value increases and decreases

The brands with the 10 biggest increases in
brand value, based on Interbrand’s methodology are Facebook, Google, Prada,
Apple, Amazon, Cartier, Porsche, Nissan, Hermès, and Samsung. The brands with
the largest decreases in brand value are Nokia, Morgan Stanley, Nintendo, MTV,
Avon, Dell, Canon, Sony, Intel, and Nescafe.

Countries
represented

Brands in Interbrand’s 2013 report are from
companies based in Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and
the United States.

Comment

As consumer demands change over time, it
will be interesting to see how Interbrand’s ranking changes from year to
year.  Regardless, reports such as
Interbrand’s prove that brands and their associated intellectual property are
business assets worth developing and protecting.