Forbes has released its report on the "World's Most Valuable Brands" for 2014, with technology companies Apple, Microsoft and Google finding themselves in the top spots.
Coca-Cola and IBM round out the top five.
To be able to measure how valuable a brand is, Forbes did not look at customer surveys. Instead, it analyzed the financial numbers that each company releases, on the premise that the brands that are most valuable are the ones that are able to generate the best earnings in the industries where they operate.
The "World's Most Valuable Brands" cover those coming from 15 countries and spanning over 20 industry categories. There are 55 companies based in the United States; other countries represented well in the list are Germany with nine brands, France with seven brands, and Japan with five brands.
Tech brands take up 19 spots on the list, including the top three; four out of the top five; and 11 out of the top 25. The second best category is the one for car companies, which take up 16 spots; this is followed by financial services with 13 spots, consumer packaged goods with 11 spots and luxury brands also with 11 spots.
Forbes took the earnings of each company before taxes and interest for the previous three years, then averaged the figures. The result was then subtracted by 8 percent, representing capital employed. A maximum corporate tax rate in the home country of each parent company was applied to the resulting figure.
Afterwards, Forbes allocated a certain percentage of each company's earnings to the brand, depending on the role that branding plays in each company's respective industry. Companies in luxury goods and beverages have a higher percentage because branding is more important in those industries, while companies in fuel and air transportation have a lower percentage.
Lastly, the average price-to-earnings multiple for the previous three years was applied for each company's brand earnings to come up with the final brand value.
Apple came out on top with a brand value of $124.2 billion, which is a 19 percent increase compared to its brand value last year and almost double that of Microsoft, which came in at second place with a brand value of $63 billion.
Microsoft's brand value increased by 11 percent compared to last year, while Google's brand value increased by 19 percent to $56.6 billion.
Coca-Cola's brand value was reported to be $56.1 billion, a two-percent increase compared to last year, while that of IBM's was $47.9 billion, which represents a five-percent decrease compared to 2013.
Out of all the brands in the "World's Most Valuable Brands" list, Facebook increased its brand value the most compared to last year, coming at $23.7 billion for a 74-percent increase. Luxury brand Coach lost the most brand value, reporting $8.8 billion or a 16-percent decrease.
