Coke still has 'it,' remains world's top brand

Atlanta Business Chronicle - by J. Scott Trubey Staff Writer

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For the ninth consecutive year, Atlanta-based beverage giant The Coca-Cola Co. remained the most valuable brand in the world, according to a study issued Friday by BusinessWeek and Interbrand.

Coke, the world’s largest bottler, has been the No. 1 brand in the world since the study started in 2001.

For the first time, however, the overall value of the world’s Top 100 marks has fallen, Interstudy said. The world’s foremost brands in value are worth $1.15 trillion, down by $55.5 billion, a decrease of more than 4 percent.

Not surprisingly, the fallout of the recession and the collapse of Wall Street injured many financial companies. The highest rated financial services company, No. 32-ranked HSBC fell from its 27^th ranking in 2008.

CitiGroup, now the top-rated American brand among financial companies, fell from No. 19 last year to No. 36.

Seven companies in total fell off the Top 100 list, including: Merrill Lynch (formerly No. 34), American International Group (formerly No. 54), and ING (formerly No. 86).

Google Inc., Amazon Inc. and Spain's Zara are among the biggest gainers in brand equity in 2009.

Coke’s (NYSE: KO) brand value is listed at $68.7 billion, up 3 percent from last year.

“Coca-Cola is 123 years old and shows no sign of relenting,” the study said, crediting the company’s “Open Happiness” advertising campaign.

The Top Five companies were unchanged from 2008, with IBM, Microsoft, General Electric and Nokia following Coke. McDonald’s climbed two places to No. 6, Google vaulted three places to No. 7, while Toyota dipped two spots to No.8, Intel dropped from No. 7 to No.9 and Disney was off a spot to No. 10.

UPS Inc. is the next highest rated Atlanta-based company, coming in at No. 31. No other company based in Georgia made the list. The UPS brand is valued at $11.6 billion, but it dropped a spot because of declining global trade.

Top Brands

1. Coca-Cola $68.7 billion

2. IBM $60.2 billion

3. Microsoft $56.6 billion

4. GE $47.8 billion

5. Nokia $34.9 billion

6. McDonald's $32.3 billion

7. Google $32.0 billion

8. Toyota $31.3 billion

9. Intel $30.6 billion

10. Disney $28.5 billion

My surprise is Apple is not as large as you would think listening to all the news media and blogs.

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