What’s The Google Brand Worth These Days? $100 Billion. Probably Less.
WPP subsidiary Millward Brown Optimor released its highly regarded annual brand ranking BrandZ Top 100 (PDF) back in April. It identifies the world’s most valuable global brands as measured by their dollar value.
Topping the list were Internet giant Google, whose brand was valued at a whopping $100 billion, and rival Microsoft which came in second with a $76.2 billion valuation. The report showed Google’s brand value was up from $86 billion last year (an increase of 16% in value), while Microsoft’s rose only 8% in value over the past year.
Note that this is the value of the brand and not the company, and we mustn’t forget Google tends to put its name in all its products so would conceivably get more exposure as Microsoft, which markets far more brands than just one (Windows, Bing, etc.). Then again, Microsoft has been around a heck of a lot longer than Google, as has Coca-Cola which came in third with a brand valuation of $67.6 billion.
Just for reference, I took a look at both tech companies’ current stock listings to see how they relate to the brand value pegged by Millward Brown’s ranking. Google today has a market cap of $142.82 billion, while Microsoft’s amounts to $212.16 billion, or an approximate 1.5 ratio in Redmond’s favor.
Does Google’s brand really account for 70 percent of its total market value, or has its brand taken a hit since the initial report? After all, Google is now Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the antitrust division of the U.S. Justice Department, competitors, and others.
Other valuable top brands in technology, according to Millward Brown’s ranking, included IBM ($66.6 B), Apple ($66.1 B), Vodafone ($53.7 B), Nokia ($35.1 B), Blackberry ($27.4 B), HP ($26.7 B), SAP ($23.6 B), Intel ($22.8 B) and Oracle ($21.4 B). Just outside the top 25, we found Amazon at the number 26 spot, but the company can pride itself in having the most ‘brand momentum’ – a measurement predicting short-term growth prospects – this year.
For the full lists and report, click here (again, it’s a PDF file).
The report also broke down brand valuations in categories, so allow me to publish the top 3 for those categories you’re likely most interested in:
GAMING CONSOLES
1 Nintendo DS – $9.65 billion
2 Nintendo Wii – $8.25 billion
3 Microsoft Xbox 360 – $4.68 billion
MOBILE OPERATORS
1 China Mobile – $61.28 billion
2 Vodafone – $53.72 billion
3 AT&T – $20.05 billion
BEER
1 Bud Light – $6.65 billion
2 Budweiser – $6.63 billion
3 Heineken – $5.06 billion
CARS
1 Toyota – $29.9 billion
2 BMW – $23.94 billion
3 Porsche – $17.46 billion
(Image via Renato Mitra’s blog)
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