BrandZ study: Migros is the strongest Swiss brand
According to the latest BrandZ study by Millward Brown, Migros is the strongest Swiss brand in terms of brand value. Telecommunications provider Swisscom ranks second among Swiss brands, followed by Coop in third place.
Millward Brown's figures show the strength of the two retail giants in the Swiss market. However, if the presence of global brands in Switzerland is taken into account, Migros and Coop are beaten by the US brand Google, which ranks first in Switzerland. Apple's iPhone is another extremely popular brand in Switzerland, ranking third.
In a further study, Millward Brown analyzed the brand value of global brands as perceived by Swiss consumers. Sana Carlton, Managing Director of Millward Brown Switzerland, explains: "Six of the ten brands with the strongest performance in Switzerland are Swiss brands. This result is astonishing given the fact that they compete with international names such as Facebook, IBM or Evian. It shows the importance that Swiss consumers attach to the country's brands and in particular to the domestic retail companies Migros and Coop." In comparison, only two German brands (Adidas, No. 4, and Lufthansa, No. 5) made it into the top ten in Germany, and only one French brand (Fnac, No. 10) appeared in the top ten in France.
Swissness counts in banking
According to the study, the respective banking divisions of Migros Bank and Bank Coop also benefited from the respective brand strengths of Migros and Coop. The best-performing Swiss banks were the cantonal banks and Raiffeisen, with the latter achieving the highest overall brand ranking in Switzerland in the "financial institutions" category. According to the press release, the perception of the Swiss of the cooperative bank Raiffeisen as extremely credible is crucial to its success.
The top 3 in the world are technology companies
The world's biggest brands continue to increase in value despite the current economic uncertainty. Apple, the No. 1 brand for the second time in a row, increased its value by 19 percent to 182.9 billion US dollars. IBM grew by 15 percent to a value of 115.9 billion US dollars, overtaking Google, which dropped to third place with 107.8 billion US dollars. In the run-up to its IPO, the eight-year-old company Facebook increased in value by 74%, making it the brand with the fastest growth in value in the ranking. With a value of 33.2 billion US dollars, the social network climbed from No. 35 to No. 19.
The 2012 ranking of the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands shows the power of strong brands both as a driver of business growth and as an important pillar in difficult times. Between 2006 and 2012, the total value of the BrandZ Top 100 increased by 66 percent to 2.4 trillion US dollars.
The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, identifies the 100 most valuable brands in the world based on their value in US dollars. The analysis is based on a combination of financial data and consumer opinions on brand value. The research report available online includes a ranking and analysis of the most valuable brands for the most important regions of the world and for 13 market sectors.
