Internet search engine Google has retaken
first place in the 2005 global poll of the world's most influential
brands, while the eBay-owned web phone service Skype makes
its debut at No. 3.
The annual survey compiled by online branding magazine brandchannel.com
often throws up controversial results, such as in 2004, when
Arabic TV station Al Jazeera was voted the world's fifth
most influential brand (down to 25th place this year).
But this year, the 2528 branding professionals and students
who voted came up with more conventional and - perhaps unsurprisingly
for an online poll - tech-heavy answers when asked "Which
brand had the most impact on our lives in 2005?".
Google, the minimalist search engine which has expanded regionally
and moved into new markets areas as its price comparison
service Froogle, last topped the poll in 2003, and for 2005
reclaims its top slot from Apple Computer, which came in
second this year.
Skype, which offers free calls to other Skype users and charge
everyone else, crashes in at third place in the global list,
while omnipresent coffee chain Starbucks and Swedish furniture
chain Ikea take fourth and fifth place respectively.
The poll does not take account of economic brand value, the
dark science of assigning a financial value to brands, which
regularly puts Coca-Cola's Coke in first place.
Neither is the survey too fussy about whether the reported
brand impact is positive or negative, so the winners need
not necessarily take too much credit.
Brandchannel also breaks down the results by region, and
in North America the top three - Apple, Google and Starbucks
respectively - are strikingly similar to the global outcome,
with retailer Target taking fourth place, and cycling legend-cum-human
brand Lance Armstrong in fifth.
The top five places in the European list are from homegrown
corporations, with Finland's Nokia topping the poll, followed
by Ikea and Skype and then Zara, Spanish Inditex's ultra-hip
fashion chain. Carmaker BMW is fifth on the European grid.
Likewise, the top four in the Asia-Pacific region - Sony,
Toyota Motor, Samsung and LG are all, in a sense, local.
Fifth-placed HSBC has Asian roots but is headquartered in
London.
And in a refreshing change from the high-tech brands that
dominate in the rest of the world, Latin America's top two
are party beverages Corona and Bacardi, with mobile phone
operator Movistar in third. Sandal maker Havaianas takes
fourth place and Mexican building materials group Cemex is
fifth.
