Tech dominates brand survey as Apple comes out top

Um…this should come as a surprise to approximately no one. Apple is the world’s most valuable company.

The Cupertino-based tech giant topped research company Millward Brown’s list of the world’s top 100 companies for the second year in a row, consolidating its position with a 19% increase in its brand value over the last 12 months.

In fact tech companies dominate the top 10, with IBM, Google, and Microsoft all joining Apple in the top five.

Google actually lost a place to Apple’s long-time rival IBM, which is now the world’s second most valuable brand.

One tech company whose progress particularly stands out however is Facebook’s. The social network jumped up 19 places from its 2011 ranking to become the 19th most valuable brand on the planet.

The biggest tech loser meanwhile is probably Cisco, which slipped 15 places to number 59 on the list.

One takeaway from the survey is that companies from emerging market countries — and the BRICS in particular — are starting to make their names for themselves on a global scale. According to Millward Brown:

Western brands are no longer a novelty in many of the BRIC markets. Local brands are improving in functional and emotional appeal. Years ago, perhaps, brand success was about just showing up. Not any more.

A great example of this is African mobile operator MTN, which made it debut on the list, placing at number 88.

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