If branding were an Olympic sport, there’d be lots of Americans flying flags and chanting, “We’re number one!” Sixty of the companies on “BusinessWeek”/Interbrands’ list of the top 100 global brands are U.S. based, as are eight of the top 10.
Coca-Cola was deemed the number-one global brand by the magazine and the marketing agency, followed by Microsoft, IBM, GE, Intel, Nokia (the highest-ranked non-U.S. company), Disney, McDonald’s, Toyota, and Marlboro.
Taking the silver medal to the U.S.’s gold was Germany, which placed nine companies among the top 100. Germany’s top-ranked brand, Mercedes, was number 11 overall. France and Japan tied for the bronze, with seven companies each. Number-nine Toyota was Japan’s highest-ranking brand, while Louis Vuitton was the top French brand.
How were the brands valuated? According to a press release, “Value is calculated as the net present value of the earnings that the brand is expected to generate and secure in the future for the time frame from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005. In order to be included in the top global brands list, a brand had to be valued at greater than $2.1 billion. They were selected according to two criteria: First, the brands had to be global, generating significant earnings in the main global markets. Second, there had to be sufficient marketing and financial data publicly available for preparing a reasonable valuation.”
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