Top 100 Global Brands of 2008 and their Slogans

Here’s a look at the Top 100 Global Brands last year. Compiled by BusinessWeek and Interbrand, the Top 100 includes only brands, not parent companies – unlike the Sri Lankan way of doing things. Procter & Gamble does not show up on the list, but Gillette does – something our marketing guru’s could take a note of, when they think of naming “Lowe LDB” or “BOI” a Superbrand next time.
“When ranking the value of the Best Global Brands, Interbrand evaluates brand value in the same way any other corporate asset is valued – on the basis of how much it is likely to earn for the company in the future. Interbrand uses a combination of analysts’ projections, company financial documents, and its own qualitative and quantitative analysis to arrive at a net present value of those earnings. The brand values are based on data collected during the 12 months prior to June 30, 2008. This means that more recent developments, including the troubles at Merrill Lynch and AIG, are not factored into the brand valuations...” explains the BusinessWeek website.
Interestingly, Apple has become a bigger brand than Sony, Pepsi and Nescafé. Google rises while Yahoo falls even behind Amazon, some of the big brands such as Pizza Hut, Kraft, Kodak, Nissan, LG and Levis fall out of the Top 100 list altogether. H&M, the Swedish purveyor of affordable chic continues to climb just like Apple, Google and Nintendo in 2008.
I have done a bit of research to add their marketing slogans to the list – but one must keep in mind that the slogans may change from market to market, or from time to time. IBM, for example, no longer has a slogan, but, they used “Solutions for a Small Planet” at the time I was handling their brand in the Middle East. Starbucks still does not have one, and they do not need one since they have very little, or almost zero, visibility in advertising. The big fashion brands and sports car brands such as Prada and Ferrari could make a statement without speaking a word – that’s why I couldn’t find a slogan I suppose.
I have also had the good fortune to creatively contribute to at least 20 out of the 100 Best Global Brands at one time or the other in my advertising career, a fact that brings a smile to my face.

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TOP 100 GLOBAL BRANDS OF 2008
Rank, Brand, Brand Value in US$ Millions, Country of Origin and Most Common/Most Recent Slogan.

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1	Coca-Cola	66,667	US	Live on the Coke Side of Life.
2	IBM	59,031	US	Solutions for a Small Planet.
3	Microsoft	59,007	US	Your potential. Our passion.
4	GE	53,086	US	Imagination at Work.
5	Nokia	35,942	Finland	Connecting People.
6	Toyota	34,050	Japan	Moving Forward.
7	Intel	31,261	US	Leap Ahead.
8	McDonald's	31,049	US	I’m lovin’ it.
9	Disney	29,251	US	Where Dreams Come True.
10	Google	25,590	US
11	Mercedes-Benz	25,577	Germany	The Future of the Automobile.
12	Hewlett-Packard	23,509	US	Invent.
13	BMW	23,298	Germany	The Ultimate Driving Machine.
14	Gillette	22,069	US	The Best a Man Can Get.
15	American Express	21,940	US	Do More.
16	Louis Vuitton	21,602	France	The Spirit of Travel. (Epileather)
17	Cisco	21,306	US	This is the power of the network. Now.
18	Marlboro	21,300	US	Come to Marlboro Country.
19	Citi	20,174	US	The Citi Never Sleeps.
20	Honda	19,079	Japan	The Power of Dreams.
21	Samsung	17,689	S. Korea	Everyone’s Invited.
22	H&M	13,840	Sweden
23	Oracle	13,831	US	Can’t Break It, Can’t Break In.
24	Apple	13,724	US	Think Different.
25	Sony	13,583	Japan	It’s a Sony.
26	Pepsi	13,249	US	The Choice of the New Generation.
27	HSBC	13,143	UK	The World’s Local Bank.
28	Nescafé	13,055	Switzerland	Awaken Your Senses.
29	Nike	12,672	US	Just Do It.
30	UPS	12,621	US	Deliver More.
31	SAP	12,228	Germany	The Best-run e-Businesses Run SAP.
32	Dell	11,695	US	Purely You.
33	Budweiser	11,438	US	The King of Beers. (Budweiser. True)
34	Merrill Lynch	11,399	US	is Bullish on America/Ask Merrill.
35	Ikea	10,913	US	Make a House a Home.
36	Canon	10,876	Japan	Image Anywhere.
37	JPMorgan	10,773	US	Your Choice. Your Chase.
38	Goldman Sachs	10,331	US	Our Client’s Interest Always Comes First.
39	Kellogg’s	9,710	US	They’re Great!
40	Nintendo	8,772	Japan	Who are you?
41	UBS	8,740	Switzerland	You & Us.
42	Morgan Stanley	8,696	US	One Client at a Time.
43	Philips	8,325	Netherlands	Sense and Simplicity.
44	Thompson Reuters	8,313	UK	For People in the Know.
45	Gucci	8,254	Italy	Quality is Remembered Long After the Price is Forgotten.
46	eBay	7,991	US	The Power of All of Us.
47	Accenture	7,948	Bermuda	High Performance, Delivered.
48	Siemens	7,943	Germany	Be Inspired.
49	Ford	7,896	US	Ford. Drive One.
50	Harley-Davidson	7,609	US	The Legend Rolls On…
51	L’Oreal	7,508	France	Because you’re worth it.
52	MTV	7,193	US	Think MTV.
53	Volkswagen	7,047	Germany	Drivers wanted.
54	AIG	7,022	US	The Strength to Be There.
55	AXA	7,001	France	Be Life Confident.
56	Heinz	6,646	US	57 Varieties. (Mine’s gotta have Heinz.)
57	Colgate	6,437	US	The Colgate Ring of Confidence.
58	Amazon.com	6,434	US	A Real Company in a Virtual World.
59	Xerox	6,393	US	The Digital Document Company.
60	Chanel	6,355	France	Share the Fantasy.
61	Wrigley’s	6,105	US	Double Your Pleasure.
62	Zara	5,955	Spain	We Have a Dream.
63	Nestle	5,592	Switzerland	Good Food. Good Life.
64	KFC	5,582	US	Finger Lickin’ Good.
65	Yahoo!	5,496	US	Do you Yahoo?
66	Danone	5,408	France	A Little Everyday Goes a Long, Long Way.
67	Audi	5,407	Germany	Vorsprung Durch Technik.
68	Caterpillar	5,288	US	Earthmoving Solutions for Today’s Challenges.
69	Avon	5,264	US	Let’s Talk.
70	adidas	5,072	Germany	Impossible is Nothing.
71	Rolex	4,956	Switzerland	Perpetual spirit.
72	Hyundai	4,846	S. Korea	Drive your way.
73	BlackBerry	4,802	Canada	Life on BlackBerry.
74	Kleenex	4,636	US	It’s time to Let it Out.
75	Porsche	4,603	Germany	There is No Substitute.
76	Hermés	4,575	France
77	Gap	4,357	US	For Every Generation, There is a GAP.
78	Panasonic	4,281	Japan	Just Slightly Ahead of Our Time.
79	Cartier	4,236	France	The Jeweller of Kings.
80	Tiffany & Co.	4,208	US	America’s House of Design since 1837.
81	Pizza Hut	4,097	US	Great Pizzas. Great Times.
82	Allianz	4,033	France	Financial Solutions from A to Z.
83	Moet & Chandon	3,951	France	L’esprit Mo? & Chandon.
84	BP	3,911	UK	Beyond Petroleum.
85	Starbucks	3,879	US
86	ING	3,768	Netherlands	Saving Feels Good.
87	Motorola	3,721	US	Intelligence Everywhere.
88	Duracell	3,682	US	Lasts Longer, Much Longer.
89	Smirnoff	3,590	UK	There’s Vodka and Then There’s Smirnoff.
90	Lexus	3,588	Japan	Pursuit of Perfection.
91	Prada	3,585	Italy
92	Johnson & Johnson	3,582	US
93	Ferrari	3,527	Italy
94	Armani	3,526	Italy	Designs for the Face.
95	Hennessy	3,513	France	The World’s largest stock of Eaux-de-vie.
96	Marriott	3,502	US	Revive.
97	Shell	3,471	Netherlands	You can be Sure of Shell.
98	Nivea	3,401	Germany	Beauty is…
99	FedEx	3,359	US	The World On Time.
100	Visa	3,338	US	Life Takes Visa.

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Data: Interbrand, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, BusinessWeek

Mobitel + Huawei E220 and the Mac

Mac users are the odd ones. They are the ones who are different, and more often than not, pay a little price for being different. This little note will hopefully help those Sri Lankan Mac Users who are reluctant to take advantage of Mobitel’s M3 broadband offer.

Ask a Mobitel Sales Person if the Huawei E220 HSPDA USB Modem compatible with Mac OSX Leopard and they would draw a blank. The promo-literature does not mention compatibility and the self-intallation disk that’s included in the modem does NOT carry a Mac Installation. The clueless and helpless sales personnel at Mobitel would, at best, ask you to bring your “machine” so that their tech guys could check it out to see if it works. That’s bad news if you are interested in using the modem with your G4 or G5 desktop.

Well, here’s the good news: The Huawei E220 HSPDA USB modem works perfectly well with the Mac. It works like a charm with my Intel-based MacBook pro and it is also compatible with the old Power-PC based Macs – I have connected it to my old G4 tower at home.

The only problem is in installation. Since there is no compatible software/drivers offered by Mobitel or Huawei, Mac users have to do a bit of homework themselves searching all over the net. The best place to look for the required installation is here; where you’ll find easy-to-understand, step-by-step instructions. Please note that all the parameters remain the same, including the dial-up number – just follow the instructions.

I haven’t experienced any notable issues with Mobitel + Huawei E220 combination, except for a time-out error when downloading large streams. That too, I think happens when the browser is idle while downloading, but that’s my guess. Occasionally, you might need to remove and re-connect the USB, if it has terminated due to lack of network activity.

Is it as good as SLT fixed-line broadband? Nope. SLT is broadband is marginally better. Given the advantage of being truly mobile (out of home), I would recommend this for Mac users on the go. How does this stand-up against the Dialog offer – I haven’t tried that yet; and I do not think that I would either. Also, Mobitel does not offer an “Unlimited” Package.

Well, Good luck and happy “Mobile” surfing!

Getting caught in the Island Life

I have been a total waste of space the last whole-month. There were far too many holidays, far too many friends and far too many "good times" to celebrate. So much so, even my bottle of Lebanese "Arak" - which, usually gets sniffed and kept back - found it's way to the table. Desperation, in good times.

Life in the paradise isle is great. I've lost some weight since I arrived, but gained a thin layer of "comfortable fat" around my belly. Time to consider working out; but haven't found a gym that opens early enough, yet.

Have spent some quality time in Mount, Galle and Bandarawela - the holidays have been amazing.

There are two significant changes taking place in my life.
1. I’m beginning to sleep a bit more than my usual four-hours. It's becoming six hours, another reason why my blog hasn't been rolling as usual.
2. I’m beginning to develop a taste for, or rather learning to appreciate, the brown skinned women with 'long' hair. A radical departure - considering that I've always fancied the fair-skinned, with short hair.

I guess the only achievement in the last month has been the APP (Apple® Product Professional) Certification, which, in a way proves that my grey cells are still intact.

There's Vesak holiday around the corner. I don't think I will ever be able to recover from the holidays in this country. Too much, too often, it's killing me.

All you need is a Mac

Life in Taprobane

Here's some great news. Apple has released "Boot Camp" (beta) that enables new Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP as a native operating system.

A Mac and a PC in one cool machine. Imagine that.


My iPod & Mac