Apple takes the #1 spot and Google jumps to #2...!

For the first time in the history of Interbrand’s Best Global Brands report, there is a new #1 brand: Apple. Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, publishes Best Global Brands on an annual basis, identifying and examining the top 100 most valuable global brands. With Apple claiming the top position this year, Google jumps to #2 and Coca-Cola, the brand that held the #1 position for 13 consecutive years, moves to #3. This year, the total value of all 100 Best Global Brands is USD $1.5 trillion -- an 8.4 percent record increase over the total value of the 100 Best Global Brands in 2012.

Apple has appeared on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands ranking since 2000, when the ranking debuted. In 2000, Apple ranked #36 and had a brand value of USD $6.6 billion. Today, Apple’s brand value is USD $98.3 billion– almost 15 times the amount of its brand value in 2000. Apple’s meteoric rise in brand value can be attributed to the way it has created a seamless omnichannel experience for customers. By keeping consumers at the center of everything it does, Apple is able to anticipate what they want next and break new ground in terms of both design and performance. With 72 million Macs in use and record-breaking sales of both the iPhone and iPad, Apple has made history by unseating Coca-Cola and becoming Interbrand’s most valuable global brand of 2013.

“Every so often, a company changes our lives—not just with its products, but with its ethos. This is why, following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Apple now ranks #1,” said Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s Global Chief Executive Officer. “Tim Cook has assembled a solid leadership team and has kept Steve Jobs’ vision intact – a vision that has allowed Apple to deliver on its promise of innovation time and time again.”

Adds Ashish Mishra, Managing Director, Interbrand India - “Yes, for the first time in the BGB’s 14-year history, Coca-Cola is no longer #1. This year, Apple claims the top spot – and Google captures the #2 position. This to our minds is the single biggest story of the new times, of a changed world. Of who really leads the brand - the marketer or the consumer, or both? And how anticipation, co creation, conversation, innovation, investment in people & big data, strategic CSR and new leadership is the new way”.

Interbrand’s Best Global Brands methodology was the first of its kind to become ISO certified. It analyzes the many ways a brand benefits an organization, from delivering on customer expectations to driving economic value.

When determining the top 100 most valuable global brands, Interbrand examines three key aspects that contribute to a brand’s value:

• The financial performance of the branded products or service
• The role the brand plays in influencing consumer choice
• The strength the brand has to command a premium price, or secure earnings for the company