Apple is 'most valuable' global brand despite Jobs' death

Brands and market-research agency Millward Brown has announced that Apple boosted its brand value by 19% in the past year to $182,951 billion, or 37% of its market capitalisation.

Millward Brown Optimor MD Nick Cooper noted that Apple’s increasing its brand value despite the death of its visionary founder Steve Jobs in the past year was extraordinary, according to Reuters.

“They are catchable but they’ve either got to falter or someone else has got to put on a sprint,” he said.

IBM was in second place having increased its brand value by 15%. Google declined by 3% in brand value to sit in third place. In forth is MacDonald’s, followed by Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Marlboro, AT&T, Verizon and China Mobile in tenth position.

Other notable inclusions are Facebook in 19th place, which saw a massive 74% increase in brand value, according to the survey. No other company saw such an increase.

According to Millward Brown, almost half of the Top 100 brands lost value. The report notes that the last time the brands declined this broadly was during the depths of the 2009 global recession.

Brand Contribution is the measurement of brand strength exclusive of financials or any other factors, according to Millward Brown. According to the report, Brand Contribiution “generally remained stable or increased for most brands and provided the buoyancy to navigate the year’s turbulence.”