Coca - Cola!! Still No 1

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Coca-Cola still king as Google rewrites rules

By Business Times, 1 August 2006

Coca-Cola remains the world's most valuable brand. It's brand value alone is worth $67-billion, according to the annual global survey by Interbrand in conjunction with BusinessWeek. Jeremy Sampson, chief executive of Interbrand Sampson, said: "It's the miracle of Coke that for the last 120 years, especially the past 20 years, the brand has been so strong." He does not expect the brand to be toppled any time soon, adding that he does not believe the world's most valuable brands are under threat. The top five brands retained the same rankings as they did last year, though three had a slight decline in brand value, including Coke. The staying power of Coke is all the more significant in a world where consumption of carbonated drinks is on the slide, while sales of bottled water are increasing. The Coca-Cola company has about 400 brands within its portfolio, including several water options. Arch-rival Pepsi is ranked 22 in terms of brand value, but Pepsico has a larger market capitalisation, having diversified into a wide range of fast-foods including Frito-Lay, Quaker and Simba. One of the most startling moves was that two of the top three gainers were all from the "new world" with Google up 46%, coffee company Starbucks up 20% and eBay 18%. Google creates growth with the strategy "do no evil" - positioning itself at the opposite end of the spectrum from the more corporate Microsoft. "Google is rewriting the rule book," said Sampson. Similarly, the entire Starbucks brand has been built without advertising, and is a word-of-mouth phenomenon. It has expanded the brand with a premium fast-food offering and extended its products into music and publishing. Online retailers eBay and Amazon.com continue to skyrocket in value. Nokia has regained top spot in the mobile telecom industry after declines from 2000 to 2004. It retains sixth position and shifts up 14%, having focused on design and desirable features as key differentiators. Disney is another turnaround. After suffering financial turmoil for several years, it is seeing a "positive but cautious revival", according to Interbrand. It shifts to eighth from seventh position last year. Among other well-known names, Toyota shifted from ninth to seventh position and McDonald's moved from eighth to ninth. Mercedes-Benz toppled Marlboro out of the top 10. With only two new entrants to the top 100, compared with six new entrants last year, Sampson said this indicated greater stability. The biggest decliners were Gap (down 22%), which appeared to be unable to clarify its brand image, followed Ford (down 16%). The motor company continues to lose money and brand value. Kodak is down 12%, having got behind on the technology curve - especially the world of digital photography where it has lagged. To put it in context, South Africa's largest brands are far smaller than the big brands in larger economies. Levi's, number 100 in the Top 100, has a market capitalisation of $2.69-billion. Standard Bank was last year rated the most valuable South African global brand with a value that equates to $1.7-billion.