Internet, Tech Brands Playing with the Big Boys

Internet brands such as America Online, Yahoo and Amazon.com are among the fastest growing brand names in the world, according to the World’s Most Valuable Brands survey by Interbrand.

The survey, conducted in conjunction with Citibank, identified and ranked the top global brands valued at $1 billion or more. A total of 75 brands qualified this year. Yahoo was ranked No. 38, experiencing 258 percent growth in brand value over last year. AOL was ranked No. 47, and Amazon.com was No. 48, with 233 percent growth.

Coca-Cola was the top-ranked brand for the second year in a row, despite a 13 percent drop in brand value from last year. Software maker Microsoft was the highest ranking technology brand, coming in at No. 2 with a brand value of $70.2 billion.

“Translating brand power into economic value begins and ends with a focus on brands as corporate assets,” said Martyn Straw, president of Interbrand US. “Companies that outperform their peers in brand value creation understand this well, and proactively manage their brands as they would other key strategic assets of the company as a way to secure long-term shareholder value.”

The high-tech industry was the biggest brand value builder in the past 12 months, with the majority of the tech companies in the top 75 experiencing double-digit growth for their brand value. Other high-tech companies that made this year’s survey include IBM (No. 3), Intel (No. 4), Nokia (No. 5), Hewlett-Packard (No. 13), Cisco (No. 14), Compaq (No. 15), Dell (No. 28), and Ericsson (No. 32).

The entire list of the top 75 is available on Interbrand’s Web site.