Apple Ranked World's Most Valuable Brand; Amazon Brand Value Surpasses Walmart

Deep breath needed here. BrandZ, one of a number of brand valuation firms, has announced its 2011 brand value rankings. Apple, according to this company, is the world's most valuable. Amazon, according to the same firm's methodology, has surpassed Walmart as the world's most valuable retail brand.

The deep breath is required because the number of firms offering such rankings is proliferating and no two metholodologies are alike. This means that the rankings are great for public relations purposes but may have little use in other situations such as merger or acquisition financing. The BrandZ rankings are heavily weighted towards tech companies, which also raises questions about analytical bias regarding how they conduct the analysis and weight the inputs.

That said, the news within this ranking is still interesting: Apple has surpassed Google, a phenomenon given how software has dominated hardward in recent years. Also, even if questionable from a financial and scale standpoint, Amazon's surpassing Walmart does underscore the rising power of ecommerce. Do not expect these rankings to last, let alone remain uncontested for a week, but consider the information in the context of what is happening in the broader economy.

Christian Zibreg reports in 9to5Mac:

"Apple is the world’s most valuable brand in the post-recession world, says the latest 2011 Top 100 ranking of global brands by BrandZ, a Millward Brown subsidiary of advertising company WPP. The iPhone maker, which last year ranked third, knocked Google, the world’s most valuable brand in 2010. Apple emerged ahead other top brands from a variety of industries such as computers, automotive, telcos, banks and clothing, to name a few.

The organization estimated Apple’s brand value at north of $153 billion, which shouldn’t be confused with Apple’s market capitalization that currently stands at cool $324 billion. Google’s brand value dropped two percent to an estimated $111.5 billion, enough to came in second.

Apple earned an 84 percent increase in brand value with successful iterations of existing products like the iPhone, creation of the tablet category with iPad, and anticipation of a broadened strategy making the brand a trifecta of cloud computing, software, and innovative, well-designed devices.

The BrandZ rankings were first published five years. Apple’s brand value in the BrandZ rankings increased 859 percent from just $16 billion in 2006, thanks to the successful business with iOS devices that helped Apple become the world’s most profitable handset maker and the biggest mobile devices company by revenue.

Facebook ($19.1 billion), Amazon ($37.6 billion) and the Chinese search engine Baidu ($22.6 billion) also stand out as year-over-year performers. It’s interesting that Amazon is now the leading retal brand, having beaten Walmart with a 37 percent rise in brand value.

Apple is the world’s most valuable brand in the post-recession world, says the latest 2011 Top 100 ranking of global brands by BrandZ, a Millward Brown subsidiary of advertising company WPP. The iPhone maker, which last year ranked third, knocked Google, the world’s most valuable brand in 2010. Apple emerged ahead other top brands from a variety of industries such as computers, automotive, telcos, banks and clothing, to name a few.

The organization estimated Apple’s brand value at north of $153 billion, which shouldn’t be confused with Apple’s market capitalization that currently stands at cool $324 billion. Google’s brand value dropped two percent to an estimated $111.5 billion, enough to came in second.

Apple earned an 84 percent increase in brand value with successful iterations of existing products like the iPhone, creation of the tablet category with iPad, and anticipation of a broadened strategy making the brand a trifecta of cloud computing, software, and innovative, well-designed devices.

The BrandZ rankings were first published five years. Apple’s brand value in the BrandZ rankings increased 859 percent from just $16 billion in 2006, thanks to the successful business with iOS devices that helped Apple become the world’s most profitable handset maker and the biggest mobile devices company by revenue.

Facebook ($19.1 billion), Amazon ($37.6 billion) and the Chinese search engine Baidu ($22.6 billion) also stand out as year-over-year performers. It’s interesting that Amazon is now the leading retal brand, having beaten Walmart with a 37 percent rise in brand value.