After a 13-year reign, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is no longer the most valuable brand in the world, according to a global brand consultancy.
Interbrand’s latest list reflects the growing clout the technology industry has in influencing consumer tastes and driving demand.
Apple, a powerhouse in computing with its iPhones, iPads and Macs, now leads Interbrand’s top 100 Best Global Brands list for 2013. The Cupertino-based company is followed by No. 2 Google, the top search engine and social media company, and the force behind the Android operating system, which powers Samsung and other devices.
In fact, tech companies dominate the top 10 brands overall. Rounding out the group, starting with No. 4, are IBM, Microsoft, GE, McDonald’s, Samsung, Intel and Toyota.
Joe Tripodi, Coke’s chief marketing and commercial leadership officer, said the beverage company would have liked to have remained at the top of the list “forever.”
“We’ve seen the value of technology brands rise as they create new ways for people to stay connected virtually,” Tripodi said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We understand this, as the lasting power of our brand is built on the social moment of sharing a Coca-Cola with friends and family.”
Tripodi also congratulated Apple and Google, calling them “both valued partners of ours.”
Aside from Coke, the only other Georgia company making the top 100 list is Sandy Springs-based UPS, keeping its No. 27 ranking with a brand value of $13.7 billion, up 5 percent from last year.
When Apple appeared on the list for the first time in 2000, it ranked No. 36 and had a brand value of $6.6 billion. Today, the brand that Steve Jobs made a household name before his death in 2011 is valued at $98.3 billion. The company released a new operating system and two new smartphones in recent weeks and is expected to update its popular tablet in the months ahead.
Interbrand said Apple is able to anticipate what consumers want next and break new ground when it comes to design and performance, creating “a seamless omnichannel experience for customers.”
“Every so often, a company changes our lives — not just with its products, but with its ethos,” Interbrand’s global chief executive officer, Jez Frampton, said in a statement releasing the list. “This is why, following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Apple now ranks No. 1.”
Interbrand arrives at a brand’s value by considering its financial performance, the role a brand plays in influencing consumer choice and its strength in commanding a premium price, or in securing a company’s profit.
Between last year and this year, Apple’s brand value has risen 28 percent. Google’s value during the period, $93.2 billion, is up 34 percent. Coca-Cola’s brand value, $79.2 billion, is up 2 percent.
The total value of the 100 brands is $1.5 trillion, an 8.4 percent increase in value over last year’s list, Interbrand said.
