Coca-Cola 'loses some of its fizz'

Life may not be so sweet for Coca-Cola, says survey

By economics correspondent Andrew Walker

An influential business consultancy firm says Coca-Cola is close to losing its position as the world's most valuable brand.

A survey by the New York company, Interbrand, has valued the Coca-Cola brand at $72.5bn, more than $2bn ahead of Microsoft in second place.

The Microsoft brand value has risen by 24%

But in the past year, the study's findings show that the Coca-Cola brand has shed 13% of its value, and looks likely to lose its premier position if the trend continues.

Microsoft's brand value, meanwhile, has climbed by 24%, despite the distractions of a massive anti-monopoly court case in the United States.

The consultants say that for many companies, their brands are their most important asset, estimated at more than half their total stock market value.

Internet companies

The general pattern is one of rising values for new technology brands.

Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone maker, saw its brand rise 86% in value.

"Old economy" brand Nike has lost value

It was also the only non-US company in the survey's top 10.

But internet companies were not strongly represented, as they have not yet had much time to establish a brand name, and very few of them make a profit.

Nonetheless, Yahoo, the internet search engine, and online retailer Amazon managed some very strong rises in their brand values.

In addition to Coca-Cola, a number of other so-called "old economy" brands lost value, such as photographic film maker Kodak and sportswear supplier Nike.

Interbrand's survey looks at the future earnings potential of the companies concerned and tries to assess how much of that can be attributed to the brands they own.