Thaindian News

New York, May 10 (IANS)The iPad craze has catapulted Apple to the world’s most valuable brand, toppling Google, according a study of the global brands Monday.

Facebook is the world’s fastest growing brand, up 246 percent from last year, according to the study by Millward Brown, a global brands agency.

Thanks to the iPad sales, Apple’s brand value jumped by 84 percent to $153.2 billion whereas Google slipped two percent to stand at $111.5 billion, says Millward Brown’s 2011 BrandZ study.

IBM, McDonald’s and Microsoft are at number three, four and five among the world’s five most valuable brands, according to the study.

The study has valued IBM at $100.8 billion, McDonald’s at $81 billion and Microsoft at $78.2 billion respectively.

At number six, Coca Cola brand is valued at $73.8 billion, followed by AT&T; at $69.9 billion.

Marlboro is at number eight ($67.5 billion) and China Mobile at number nine ($57.3 billion).

General Electric (GE) rounds off the list of the world’s top 10 brands with a value of $50.3 billion.

As the study shows, eight among the top ten global brands are American, with technology giants topping the list.

Eileen Campbell, global CEO of Millward Brown, told Advertising Age that tablets and smart phones have accounted for big gains in value for a lot of tech and telecom brands, which occupied the top three spots and six of the top 10.

She attributed Google’s fall from the top to its four percent decrease in market capitalization and investments in such mobile platforms and the Chrome browser that are “heavy and ahead of return.”

But “Google is still pretty hot. It remains one of the most-desirable and trusted brands we track,” she said.

Vodafone ($43.6 billion), HP ($35.4 billion) and Visa ($28.5 billion) were also among the top-20 global brands.

Interestingly, Amazon, at number 14, dethroned Walmart, at 13, as the most valuable retail brand. The brand value of Amazon rose 37 percent to $37.6 billion whereas Walmart slipped five percent to $37.3 billion, according to the study.

For the first time, seven out of 11 newcomers among top 100 brands came from BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations, says the study.

Continuing its surge on the global brand ladder, China has 12 companies in the top 100 brands this year as against seven last year.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) at $24.6 billion come 25th on the global brand list.

With its brand value of $19.1 billion, Facebook has jumped 246 percent since last year to land at 35th spot on the top-100 list.

Chinese search engine Baidu is the second-fastest growing brand, jumping 141 percent to reach 29th spot on the list. It has a brand value of $22.6 billion.