Interbrand

The top five ranking brands are 1) Coca-cola, 2) IBM, 3) Microsoft, 4) Google, and 5) General Electric. It was not surprising to see these brands listed amongst the top five. All five of these brands are extremely popular and prevalent in everyday lives. I myself encounter several of these top 5 brands everyday one way  or another. In order to see what makes these brands so successful I will be taking a look at each one individually.

                Coca-Cola ranks number 1 in 2011. This should come as no surprise seeing how Coca-cola is responsible for thousands of products which are consumed each day. Not only is Coca-Cola finding success here in America, but it's products can be found all over the world. Coca-Cola uses clever advertising to continue to be the number 1 brand. It sponsors many popular events, such as the FIFA world cup. By sponsoring such a huge event, it helps Coca-Cola to promote its product to a large audience. It was also Coca-Cola's 125th anniversary, and they used this as a marketing point as well. They have also recently developed a new bottle which is environmentally friendly. Many people are in support of the "go-green" craze that this also helps to sell more products.

                IBM ranks number 2. IBM stands for International Business Machines and specializes in computer hardware and software. IBM is responsible for many products that you use and may not even know about, some of them which are installed on your computer. IBM also had an anniversary year ( 100 years), which is something that always helps out when advertising. IBM had a major success when its computer, Watson, was used on Jeopardy to help garner massive earned media. IBM continues to develop new technology, making it so successful.

                Microsoft ranks number 3. Microsoft products can be found anywhere. They are responsible for the a large amount of technology that has been developed over the past few years in the PC world. In today's world, computers are found in every household and in many other buildings as well (hotels, libraries, etc). This opens up a great path for the PC industry. Microsoft continues to develop new products and systems to make our lives easier. The programs they continue to develop are faster and better than the previous ones. With Apple becoming increasingly more popular, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft will continue to see the same success as it has. These two brands are at a constant war with each other. Apple has jumped from 17 to 8 in just one year, and will continue to grow. This will without a doubt hurt Microsoft.

                Google is a brand which continues to see success. They keep on developing new ideas and products. They have had a 27% increase in brand value in one year. This is the second highest among the top 100 brands ( Apple is first with a 58% increase). Google has recently developed Google +. Although it has not become as popular as Facebook yet, I believe that it will eventually become one of the most popular social networking sites.

                General Electric continues to be a very successful brand. It operates in over 100 countries and employs 300,000 people worldwide. They are an example of power imagination. It was interesting to note that they had a 0% increase in brand value, but were able to still stay in the top 5 brands. GE continues to try and build the master brand and plans to keep expanding into the healthcare and environmental fields. GE also has a "go-green" campaign, making them a number one choice among people. With the continual stress put on the environment, this is always an effective selling point.