A $100 billion brand

One of my favourite one liners about internet, technology and Google is "There is Internet and there is Google!". One of the most reverred tech companies Google became the first $100 billion brand in terms of Brand value (Millard Brown Brandz Top 100 most valuable 2009). A $100 billion tag is greater than most and many African, South American and Asian countries. Google finds itself to be a case study under Naseem Nicholas Taleb in his book Black Swan. Many analysts and thinkers are wary of the influence that Google holds over the internet often questioning "how much is our digital life is personal anyway (in the shadows of Omnipotent and Omnipresent Google)?"

In an year, where the overall value of the the top 100 brands had grown by 2% Google grew 16%. It's worth is 25% more than the worth of its second competitor, Microsoft! Coke,McDonalds, IBM, Apple, China Mobile, General Electric, Vodafone and Marlboro complete the top 10 list. This is the third year in a year when Goolge has secured the Tops in Millard Brown's Brandz 100!

Technology companies make the bulk of the the top 10, with Google (no 1), Microsoft (no 2), IBM (no 4), Apple (no 6), China Mobile (no 7) and Vodafone (no 9)! Handset manufacturer Nokia slips out of the top 10 with Vodafone replacing it as the most valauble European brand. Blackberry has seen a fantastic 100% jump in its brand value over the year.

It has been a good year for fast-food, cigarette and alcohol brands, as consumers suffering from so-called "recession depression" appear to have sought quick pick-me-ups.
McDonald's recorded a 34 per cent increase in brand value, year on year, followed by Marlboro (33%), Budweiser (23%) and Johnnie Walker (42%) The most valuable category was mobile telephone operators; its value grew 28 per cent year on year. This was followed by soft drinks and coffee.


Millward Brown chief executive Joanna Seddon said: "In the current environment, brand has become even more important because it can help to sustain companies in tough times. "Those who continue to invest in their brand will be better positioned for business growth as the economic situation starts to improve than those who have cut spend. The recession does not always harm individual brands as much as it does faceless corporations," she added.