Interesting list of the 100 top brands in the world.

Surprisingly, 4 of them I've never heard of: 

#48 - Zara
#56 - AXA
#67 - Allianz
#68 - Santander

But they're international and financial services, so that might explain it.

Some I was surprised to find on the list:

#21- H&M
#37 - Goldman Sachs (hello!)
#71 - Kleenex
#83 - Pizza Hut
#87 - Nivea

And some I was surprised at the order:

Nokia (#5) is before Apple (#17)?  Really?
H&M (#21) is before Nike (#25)?

And the analysis is interesting. (Yes, I'm that much of a geek that I actually dropped this into Excel and did some pivot tables on it to check out trends. Go on, Mock Me.)

By Country of Origin:

Country of Origin	Total
Canada	2
Finland	1
France	8
Germany	10
Italy	3
Japan	6
Mexico	1
Netherlands	3
South Korea	2
Spain	2
Sweden	2
Switzerland	5
United Kingdom	5
United States	50
Grand Total	100

By Sector:

Sector	Total
Alcohol	7
Apparel	3
Automotive	11
Beverages	4
Business Services	5
Computer Software	2
Diversified	4
Electronics	13
Energy	1
Financial Services	14
FMCG	13
Home Furnishings	1
Internet Services	4
Luxury	7
Media	3
Restaurants	4
Sporting Goods	2
Tobacco	1
Transportation	1
Grand Total	100

Google and Apple had the biggest jump in brand value (36 and 37% respectively), while Harley Davidson was the biggest loser (-24%).

Yay Apple (yes, my fangirl is showing)!

Harley Davidson also had the biggest fall in ranking -25 spots from 73 last year to 98 this year.  But Google and Apple each only had a 3 spot rise.  The brand to move up the most, 14 spots from #81 to #67 is Allianz, the German financial company I hadn't heard.

Of the 10 newcomers to the list, 4 are Financial Services and 4 are Alcohol brands.  Hmm. What corrolary can we extrapolate in this shaky economy?  Or is it just coinky-dink?

So much interesting stuff. Well, at least to me it is! ; )