Google voted top brand globally, Apple top brand in the US and Canada
Brandchannel announced its a href="http://www.brandchannel.com/start1.asp?fa_id=352">Reader's Choice Awards for the world's best brands today. Unlike financial brand value rankings such as those done by Interbrand and published by BusinessWeek, this one is a strict popularity contest among readers. That said, the results are usually pretty interesting.
This year, Google actually captured two of the top five global brands. Its own brand was first, and a company it bought, YouTube, came in third. Apple was the number two brand globally, and took top honors in the US and Canada.
Particularly interesting to me was the fact that Wikipedia made it to the number four brand globally and number five in the US and Canada. Why should that be surprising? Well for one thing, Wikipedia is a non-profit brand. For another, they spent little or no money on marketing and advertising. Wikipedia becoming a top five brand under those circumstances is a little like an amateur golfer making it into the finals of the US Open championship. It happens, but not often.
One other brand that I watch closely broke into the top five in Asia: Honda. Honda has been making a slow steady climb in its advertising and branding over the years, and while it isn't yet a threat to the Asia-Pacific leaders Sony and Toyota, the brand seems to be getting more and more traction. After all, who can forget its famous "Cog" commercial that showed the amazing buzz you can generate with a single shot (well, according to Snopes.com, actually two shots stitched together) of a Rube Goldberg contraption built out of Honda Odyssey parts -- if you're willing to do 605 retakes.
One important point to note: this survey took place in November and December 2006. That means that Apple's brand visibility among consumers was measured before its iPhone announcement in January, which generated a huge amount of awareness internationally. It will be interesting to see how Apple's entry into the mobile phone market affects its results next year. With Apple only seven points behind Google last year, Apple might close that gap this year.
This year, Google actually captured two of the top five global brands. Its own brand was first, and a company it bought, YouTube, came in third. Apple was the number two brand globally, and took top honors in the US and Canada.
Particularly interesting to me was the fact that Wikipedia made it to the number four brand globally and number five in the US and Canada. Why should that be surprising? Well for one thing, Wikipedia is a non-profit brand. For another, they spent little or no money on marketing and advertising. Wikipedia becoming a top five brand under those circumstances is a little like an amateur golfer making it into the finals of the US Open championship. It happens, but not often.
One other brand that I watch closely broke into the top five in Asia: Honda. Honda has been making a slow steady climb in its advertising and branding over the years, and while it isn't yet a threat to the Asia-Pacific leaders Sony and Toyota, the brand seems to be getting more and more traction. After all, who can forget its famous "Cog" commercial that showed the amazing buzz you can generate with a single shot (well, according to Snopes.com, actually two shots stitched together) of a Rube Goldberg contraption built out of Honda Odyssey parts -- if you're willing to do 605 retakes.
One important point to note: this survey took place in November and December 2006. That means that Apple's brand visibility among consumers was measured before its iPhone announcement in January, which generated a huge amount of awareness internationally. It will be interesting to see how Apple's entry into the mobile phone market affects its results next year. With Apple only seven points behind Google last year, Apple might close that gap this year.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Branding, Google, Marketing, Wikipedia
posted by Carl Howe at
9:03 AM
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