Recession-proof top brands

Taking the Top 100 as a portfolio and comparing it to the S&P 500 over the last five years reveals thatUS $1000 invested in this portfolio in 2006 would now be worth US$1185 compared to US$885 invested in the S&P 500, proving that strong brands outperform the stock market.

Brands such as Samsung, the highest riser with an 80% growth in brand value and Starbucks with an increase of 17% are evidence that businesses with strong brands are able to recover from adversity faster.

Technology rules

The top four brands were all technology based - Google, IBM, Apple and Microsoft - with all climbing in value apart from Microsoft which remained steady at fourth place. Facebook entered the technology sector ranking for the first year with a brand value of US$5.5 billion. Use of social media was a key trend across many of the successful brands this year, for example, HSBC's highly successful Expat Explorer online community.

“In the past, many companies were quick to cut their marketing spend during a down economy,” said Joanna Seddon, CEO of Millward Brown Optimor. “A new trend has emerged in the wake of the recession as more companies realised the importance of maintaining and even increasing budgets to support brand loyalty and engagement.”

All BRICs represented

The first Indian brand, ICICI Bank, entered the Top 100 at number 45 making this the first year that all members of the BRICs have been represented with new entrants from China, Russia and Brazil. China Mobile came in at 8th place.

Commenting on the ranking, Eileen Campbell, global CEO said, “This ranking has elevated the importance of building brands among some of the world's most successful companies. CEOs and CFOs around the world should be asking their brand and marketing teams how they can leverage brand to both protect and grow the business.”

For more information go to www.millwardbrown.com or download the rankings as a free application for the iPhone, Nokia and BlackBerry from www.brandz.com/mobile.