Apple overtakes Coca Cola to become the world’s most valuable brand

Thanks to impressive performances on the stock market Apple has, at times, been the world’s most valuable company. It can’t really claim that any more but it can claim to be the world’s most valuable brand.

Yup, the Cupertino-based giant has overtaken Coca Cola to claim top spot on the annual Interbrand Best Global Brands Report.

Indeed, Apple’s rival Google also managed to overtake Coca Cola, leaving the drinks brand in third spot after a 13 year reign at the top.

Following behind in fourth and fifth place are two more big companies that made their name in tech, in the shape of IBM and Microsoft. The former though is no longer listed as a tech company, having moved into business services. Apple’s largest rival in frequent legal opponent Samsung meanwhile entered the top 10 for the first time.

According to Interbrand, Apple’s ascent to the top was pretty much inevitable:

Few brands have enabled so many people to do so much so easily, which is why Apple has legions of adoring fans, as evidenced by the record-breaking launch of the iPhone 5c/5s. For revolutionizing the way we work, play, and communicate—and for mastering the ability to surprise and delight—Apple has set a high bar for aesthetics, simplicity, and ease of use that all other tech brands are now expected to match, and that Apple itself is expected to continually exceed.

The corporate identity and brand consulting company, owned by marketing giant Omnicom Group, also suggests that while the influence of the tech sector has been growing over the past few years, Apple’s growth has been far more significant.

A look at how it compares to that of the other brands in the top 10 is illustrative of just how spectacular its growth has been over the past few years.

According to Interbrand’s Nirm Shanbhag, the tech companies that place highest on the list are the ones concerned with “finding real problems, solving them, and then repeating the process”.

“It’s why Apple, Samsung, Google, and Facebook (among others) find themselves on our table today. It’s why Microsoft’s efforts to reimagine Windows for a new world and its shift towards integrating hardware, software, and services intrigue us. And it’s why companies like Pebble, Nest, and Tesla hold so much potential for the future”.

The sector’s consistent growth meanwhile is reflected in the fact that of the top 10 companies, only three saw negative growth. Of those, Dell was the worst affected, declining 10%.

Interbrand claims that its methodology allows it to bring together market, brand, competitor, and financial data “into a single framework within which a brand’s performance can be assessed”. It adds that companies must meet several requirements to make its list:

“The brand must be truly global and needs to have successfully transcended geographic and cultural boundaries. It must have expanded across the established economic centres of the world, and be establishing a presence in the major markets of the future,” the company says.