By Daniel Hunter

Apple remains the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand for 2013, worth $185 billion. Apple grew just +1% in the last year compared to a +51% growth for its closest competitor, Samsung, which is now no.30 in the global ranking with a brand value of $21 billion.

Google is also a serious challenger for the no.1 spot, reversing last year’s decline to grow +5% in brand value this year. The brand is no.2 in the ranking with a value of $114 billion. IBM is no.3 in the ranking with a brand value of $112 billion.

“Vying for leadership in the smartphone market, Samsung fuelled its huge increase in brand value by balancing a remarkable period of innovation with growing market share — it spent $1.6 billion more on advertising in the last year,” said Nick Cooper, Managing Director of Millward Brown Optimor.

“Despite a more competitive marketplace and other challengers nipping at its heels, Apple’s ability to maintain its no.1 position demonstrates the value that having a strong brand brings to business. People still love the brand regardless of its stock price.”

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, is now in its eighth year. It is the only ranking that uses the views of potential and current buyers of a brand, alongside financial data, to calculate its value.

The combined value of the Top100 has grown by 77% since 2006. They are now worth $2.6 trillion.

David Roth, CEO of The Store at WPP, said: “This year’s ranking highlights the return on investment that brands give businesses. It shows that strong brands bring market share growth, increased profits from being able to command a price premium and greater shareholder returns.”

Eileen Campbell, Global CEO of brand research company Millward Brown added: “Brand valuation and other measures that show return on marketing investment give marketers a stronger voice in the boardroom by ensuring that marketing is better understood and accounted for as a key driver of financial and business success.”

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