Study: Europe leads in luxury brands  

However, the most powerful brands in the world are at home in the USA - according to a study by market research company Millward Brown. Microsoft takes first place in the "Brandz Top 100" with a brand value of 62 billion dollars, followed by GE (56 billion dollars), Coca-Cola (41 billion dollars), China Mobile (39 billion dollars) and Marlboro (38 billion dollars). The European brands have nothing to report in the top ten. Millward Brown notes, however, that Europe sets the tone for luxury brands: Louis Vuitton is in 24th place, Mercedes in 28th, Porsche in 44th, Chanel in 75th and Cartier in 82nd. The demand for luxury goods is constantly increasing in view of the growth in global wealth and new affluent customers in developing countries. It is not surprising that Chinese brands, such as China Mobile and Lenovo, are rapidly becoming more powerful. Millward Brown also identifies an increased brand awareness when shopping, which benefits companies such as Wal-mart (6th place), eBay (38th), Amazon (78th) and Zara (87th). The study was based on data from the market researcher, which covers around 30,000 brands. Not only financial data and growth rates were analyzed, but also findings from surveys of 650,000 consumers.