Vodafone ups global brand power

Mobile phone giant Vodafone has again been named the top UK company in the annual Brandz Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking.

The value of the brand rose by 75% this year the report said, to $36.9bn (£19bn) giving it a global ranking of 11th ahead of Tesco and HSBC.

Google's brand remained top, with a value of $86.1bn ahead of General Electric, Microsoft and Coca-Cola.

Four Chinese brands made it into the list, including China Mobile.

MOST POWERFUL WORLD BRANDS

• 1 Google
• 2 General Electric
• 3 Microsoft
• 4 Coca-Cola
• 5 China Mobile
• 6 IBM
• 7 Apple
• 8 McDonalds
• 9 Nokia
• 10 Marlboro

The total value of the Top 100 brands has increased by 21% over the past two years, to $127.2bn.

The Brandz Top 100 is compiled by the consultancy Millward Brown, which combines balance sheet values with consumer sentiment.

The report says that the past year has seen technology firms such as Apple boost their brand value.

It said that the value of brands in emerging Asian markets such as China had grown at a rate of 51% this year compared with those in more mature Asian economies such as Japan and Korea, which had grown by 7%.

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