By | John Oates 9th May 2011 09:21

Apple ousts Google in brand value

Perception versus reality

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Apple is a more valuable brand than Google, according to rankings from marketeers.

Confusingly, Apple's brand is worth less than the stock market reckons and Google is also valued more highly by financial analysts than by the marketing department.

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The "Brandz 2011" survey valued Apple's brand at $153bn, up 84 per cent on last year, and Google at $111bn, down two per cent. But this makes the stock market even bigger fanbois – Apple's market cap is $320bn while Google's is $172bn.

MillwardBrown, the global market research agency which makes the list, explained it looks at a company's earnings and works out what percentage is due to branding rather than other factors such as distribution.

The survey puts IBM in third place, with a brand value of $101bn, followed by McDonalds, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and AT&T.

Amazon.com comes in 14th place with a brand worth $37bn compared to its market capitalisation of $90bn.

Facebook comes in number 35 with a theoretical brand value of $19bn – up 246 per cent on last year, which makes it the year's fastest rising brand.

In the UK Vodafone comes out in top spot with a brand value of $43.6bn, followed by HSBC, Tesco (with a brand value less than half that of Vodafone), Shell, BP and in sixth place Standard Chartered Bank.