Coca-Cola (#1) has continued to lose brand value from last year but nevertheless increased its lead as the world's most valuable brand. Starbucks (#88) tops the chart with greatest growth of 32% in this year's table thanks largely in part to its aggressive global roll-out. And despite an overall loss of brand value, McDonald's (#9) continues to rise high as the world's most valuable retail brand.

With a loss of brand value of 38%, the most dramatic decline in this year's Interbrand survey is Xerox (#46) which has failed to redefine its proposition to both customers and employees in an increasingly competitive market. Once a leading brand in the business services sector, it has lost ground to HP and Canon (#41) due to a lack of clarity in its brand proposition. Meanwhile, Samsung (#43) has seen a significant increase in brand value, up 22%, driven largely by a shrewd shift in focus away from semi-conductors toward branded products and heavy brand investment - notably through the sponsorship of the Sydney Olympics.

Among automakers, Ford has suffered a 17% loss of brand value due to the Explorer/Firestone tires recall, but remains the 8th most valuable brand in the world. BMW (#22), on the other hand, is among the top ten in growth of brand value, with an increase of 7%.

"The relative stability demonstrated in the value of brands re-affirms the theory that the brand is a company's most enduring asset," notes Jan Lindemann, Interbrand's global director of brand valuation. "Despite a period of great volatility in stock market value, brands have escaped short-term fluctuations relatively unscathed."

Interbrand calculated the brand values using the method it pioneered 13 years ago and has since used to value more than 2,500 brands. The value of a brand is based on two principles: The marketing principle that brands generate and secure customer demand and the financial principle of net present value of future earnings. Brand value is calculated as the net present value of the earnings that the brand is expected to generate and secure in the future. The table identifies the 100 most valuable global brands with a value greater than $1 billion. Brands were selected according to two criteria: First, the brands had to be global, generating significant earnings in the main global markets. Second, there had to be sufficient marketing and financial data publicly available for preparing a reasonable valuation.

BusinessWeek's cover story, "The World's Most Valuable Brands," (Aug. 6 issue) is available online at www.businessweek.com.

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Peter De Legge is an eBusiness strategy and Marketing Consultant  with over 10 years of Marketing/Marketing Communications experience, primarily in the business to business arena. To learn more about his services, visit his Web site at http://www.businessmarketing.net. 

© Copyright 2001, Peter De Legge. All rights reserved.