Today Interbrand released their 2009 list of Best Global Brands. Topping the list were Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft and GE. The criteria for deciphering the leading brands was as follows:
1. There must be substantial publicly available data
2. The brand must have at least one-third of revenues outside of its country-of-origin
3. The brand must be a market-facing brand
4. The Economic Value Added (EVA) must be positive
5. The brand must not have a purely B2B single audience with no wider public profile and awareness.
Interbrand also used a methodolgy or equation of sorts to decipher and breakdown the information obtained about each brand. This formula is “proven, straightforward and profound,” examining brands through the lens of financial strength, importance in driving consumer selection, and the likelihood of ongoing branded revenue. At this point is where you should hear the needle on the record come to a screeching halt. While I appreciate the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the world’s best brands I think there is more to making a brand great than these identified qualities. What about the brands that are shaking up industries, changing the way we think about a business or a product, bettering people’s lives?
I would like to issue a challenge to our readers:
Tell us whatbrands move you.
The criteria is simple. If the brand is amazing to you. Let us know. If we see a trend and some winners emerge, we will announce them in the first ever 29 Agency’s “Bestest Brands as Dictated by Everyday People” List. We can’t wait to hear about the brands that you love. Send us your comments!
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Comments (2)
I love this post because you are so dead on with challenging the best brand criteria. Whereas i have of course been gratuitously exposed to these brands and purchased most of them at some point – i feel no loyalty or connection to them at all really.
The brand i have to suggest for your list is facebook.com and i will tell you why! Yesterday I was helping a friend of mine – who is a marketing undergrad at ga tech – with a presentation she has for one of her sales/mktg classes. In a nutshell, her assignment was to create a new business or product and “sell it” to the rest of the class. As i was trying to help her come up with something great, I asked her the following question: what website do you HAAAVVVE TO GO TO EVERYDAY? WHAT WEBSITE CAN YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT? HER RESPONSE – WITHOUT A MOMENTS HESITATION – WAS: FACEBOOK!!!!
so I DON’T THINK MY FRIEND IS UNCOMMON FROM MOST OTHER COLLEGE STUDENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS IN THAT SHE IS A LITTLE OBSESSED WITH FACEBOOK AND HAS TO CHECK IT ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. NOT THAT oRACLE, HEINZ AND cATERPILLAR AREN’T A HUGE PART OF MOST OF OUR EVERYDAY LIVES (i mean let’s be honest, WHEN IS THE LAST TIME CATERPILLAR’s construction and mining equipment didn’t occupy your mind all day? i loooove thinking&talking about diesel engine tractors, who doesn’t?) that SAID, i TIP MY HAT TO FACEBOOK.COM AS IT IS A TRULY REMARKABLE global BRAND.
oh wow, as i was typing this post it showed up in all caps and now that i see it posted my formatting looks pretty wacky. Please ignore the caps because i promise I am not trying to shout at anyone in this post – which is how it appears :(