For the last three years, Apple has perched on its throne looking down on its minions as king of all brands. But that's no longer true.
Google has thrown Apple off the top spot and taken over as the world's most valuable brand, according to the 2014 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand report released Tuesday. Google's brand value has grown by 40% since last year to $159 billion while Apple slipped to the second-highest spot with a 20% decline to $148 billion in brand value.
"Apple is performing well, but is it still redefining technology for consumers? What is obvious is that the value of technology brands reiterates how they are an integral part of our lives," says Travyn Rhall, chief executive of Millward Brown Optimor, the agency that conducted the survey.
Millward Brown, commissioned by WPP, combines information gleaned from potential and current customers and financial data to calculate brand value, which represents how much of the company's value comes from its brand.
Asked for his opinion on why Google was able to topple Apple off the No. 1 position, Millward Brown Vice President Oscar Yuan said it was largely because Apple, once known for breaking new ground for technology that shakes up the industry, is no longer seen to be as innovative as it was. In the last eight months, Apple failed to do anything that's capable of hogging the headlines, except for its ongoing legal battle with Samsung which, by the way, saw a 21% increase in brand value, and its $3.2 billion acquisition of headset maker Beats Electronics, and even that didn't sit well with some of Apple's fans.
Google, on the other hand, continues to forge ahead.
"Apple's been known for earth-shattering, category-creating, revolutionary products. And I would say just recently Apple's innovations have been more evolutionary than revolutionary. I think that may have played a little bit in the drop from first to second," says Yuan. "Google has been doing just the opposite -- they've been organizing the world's information and putting it at your fingertips. Even to things as aggressive as GoogleX -- they are making Wi-Fi available globally by putting satellites tied to balloons over the Earth. [That kind of innovation] does enormous things for the brand -- it's seen as a making-dreams-come-true-type company, and that certainly helps their brand value."
Google has been making waves lately with its augmented-reality wearable Google Glass, which could potentially change the way we use technology. It is also developing a driverless car that can now make its way around certain suburban areas in the U.S., and a modular smartphone that will allow users to choose the 3D-printed phone parts they want and assemble their handsets on their own.
In 2011, Google launched Google Fiber in select Missouri locations to provide ultra-high-speed 100-Gbps broadband services, prompting Internet service providers to match the competition. Last year, Fiber expanded to 16 more locations and Google is working on 34 new places for Fiber deployment.
It's not just the big things that make a brand. The little things, such as Google's regularly changing logo on its search page, "continues to surprise and delight."
"It's a powerful tool. That's what Apple did for the three years prior. Building a brand in technology, it's really about, 'How do do you continue to surprise and delight?'" says Yuan.
Business-to-business leader IBM keeps the third spot from last year, with a brand value of $108 billion, while Microsoft took fourth place. Amazon is ranked 10th with a 41% increase in brand value to $64 billion. It is also named the world's most valuable retail brand for the second year in a row. Facebook's brand value increased by 61%, while Twitter and LinkedIn entered the Top 100 for the first time, landing the 71st ($14 billion) and 78th ($12 billion) brand value spots, respectively.
The top 10 most valuable brands in the world, according to the survey, are:
1. Google -- $159 billion
2. Apple -- $148 billion
3. IBM -- $108 billion
4. Microsoft -- $90 billion
5. McDonald's -- $86 billion
6. Coca-Cola -- $81 billion
7. Visa -- $79 billion
8. AT&T -- $78 billion
9. Marlboro -- $67 billion
10. Amazon -- $64 billion
