Coca-Cola, J&J Remain Atop ‘Power Brands’ List; GM Biggest Loser

Coca-Cola (KO) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) have maintained the #1 and #2 spots on a list of top companies with the most “Brand Power” in the US, according to CoreBrand, which released its 2008 Corporate Branding Index (.pdf) this week. These highly regarded brands also held the same slots in the 2007 rankings.

After Coca-Cola and J&J, Harley-Davidson (HOG) moved up one place to #3, replacing Hershey Foods (HSY), which is now #4, Corebrand said. Campbell Soup (CPB) moved up one spot to #5, replacing Hallmark, which is now #6. UPS remained unchanged in 7th place, while Colgate- Palmolive (CL) moved up one spot to #8, replacing FedEx (FDX) (now #9).

Out of the top 10, CoreBrand reports that only Kellogg Company (K) (#10) has shown significant growth, rising from #15 in 2007 and from #21 in 2005.

Top 20 Brands

Notable within the top 20, BMW is now in 12th place and is rising fast. It was #16 in 2007 and #28 in 2005. Bayer, which moved into #17 from #27 in 2007 and #45 in 2005, is also moving quickly.

Economic Crisis Not Brand Crisis

“The current economic crisis is not a brand crisis. Corporate brands remain strong in the face of the downturn,” said James Gregory, CEO of CoreBrand “However, some strong brands are being run over by the economy because brands are not stronger than the underlying financials of a corporation. For example, GE has a relatively strong brand but has significant financial exposure so the brand is hurting.”

Additional details about company rankings:

• Credit card company brands are improving: Visa (V) is now #23, up from #36 in 2007 and #44 in 2005; MasterCard (MC) is #31, up from #44 in 2007 and #57 in 2005, and American Express (AXP) is #11, up from #13 in 2007 and #16 in 2005.
• Toiletries and cosmetics companies continue to see improvements: Revlon (REV) has rallied steadily from #61 in 2005 to #33 in 2008; L’Oreal (LRLCY.PK) has progressed from #89 in 2005 to #52 in 2008; and Estee Lauder (EL) has shown big gains, moving from #60 in 2005 to #34 in 2008.
• Apparel was a mixed bag: While Levi Strauss dropped significantly from #20 in 2005 to #38 in 2007 to #49 in 2008, Fruit of the Loom moved up from #83 ]in 2005 to #43 in 2008, and Tommy Hilfiger improved from #88 in 2005 to #65 in 2008.
• St. Jude Medical (STJ) has moved up steadily to #28 in 2008 from #59 in 2005.

Biggest Drops in Rankings

Among companies that suffered setbacks in the rankings:

• Starbucks (SBUX) had a notable loss as it dropped from #10 in 2007 to #14 in 2008.
• PepsiCo (PEP) has been dropping at an alarming rate and has gone from #4 in 2005 to #11 in 2007 and to #18 in 2008.
• General Electric is losing steam, dropping from #12 in 2005 to #17 in 2007 to #24 place in 2008.
• Procter & Gamble (PG) has dropped steadily from #31 in 2005 to #39 in 2008.
• General Motors (GM) has fallen steadily from #30 in 2005 to #41 in 2008.

Apple Grows Big; Microsoft Up Slightly

Two of the most widely watched technology companies both improved this year. Microsoft’s (MSFT) efforts to bolster its presence have increased its brand rankings somewhat, according to CoreBrand. In 2005 Microsoft ranked #26, but dropped 28 spots to #59 in 2007, before improving this year to #54.

Apple (AAPL) continues to grow its corporate brand and now ranks at #91, up from #119 in 2007 and #128 in 2005.

“Last year there were many articles discussing how Apple should have been ranked as one of the top brands, but our Brand Power Ranking didn’t place the technology giant in the top 100,” said Gregory. “Everyone should be reminded that our study focuses on corporate brands, not product brands. While Apple brand zealots rate it with very high favorability, there are many more who don’t feel as strongly about the Apple corporate brand.”

About the research: The Corporate Branding Index is a quantitative research study among business decision makers in the US, and has been conducted continuously since 1990 with 1,200 companies across 49 industries. More than 12,000 surveys are completed each year. CoreBrand’s Brand Power rankings are based upon the “familiarity” and “favorability” of these business decision makers toward the corporate reputation of these companies. Respondents are business decision-makers (VP level and above) from the top 20% of US businesses across 49 industries.

Comments

[Mister Jimmy:]

Perhaps GM's brand equity will begin to improve now that Buick has tied for #1 and topped Lexus in the latest J.D. Power 2009 Vehicle Dependability Study. I guarantee you, this fact will not be the future headline of a Seeking Alpha piece.

Mar 20 08:45 AM

[Thadeus Tho...:]

"Mister Jimmy":

Isn't that the truth! Most , if not all, of the writers here like to bash GM constantly. Either they drive foreign brand cars or have stock in those brands. I know one writer here, initials "M. L.", who insists he has no axe to grind with GM, but "only prefers a "certain " German made car " for his tastes.
It's interesting, GM and Buick in particular, has had cars in the top 10 of the J.D. Power ratings for at least the last 3 years. And it gets ignored or derided. Now GM has a Buick tied for #1, and these critics still want to bash or ignore. If the U.S economy continues to suffer and go under, it's elitist attitudes of people like this that are self defeating for this country and self fulfilling in their desire to see domestic auto companies fail.

Mar 20 09:32 AM

[Mister Jimmy:]

The fact that GM helped raise the standard of living of millions of people over its 100-year history, and built much of the equipment that won two world wars and defeat communism is meaningless to a self-centered elitist basher. Believe me, our asian 'friends' do not regard their major industrial companies with such contempt.

Mar 20 12:05 PM

[FUJIMO:]

Having a Ford van and a Cadillac CTS in our stable I assume makes us American buyers, But! lets face it American auto makers deserve a thumbs up, for that is what they have been sitting on until they got Diarrhea.
Then it splattered every where and all they could say was that oh ! we were sick and could you "taxpayers make us feel better with some medication.
It was to obvious that they were headed the wrong direction for some time but gee how great the bonuses are and our blue collar children aren't crying, so lets not change a thing and the future will take care of itself.
The time has come for an ajustment this includes [ hog ] greed was spread far and wide now symapthy is in order with a little guilt .

BTW our new caddy was less than a week old and the windshield leaked so bad that it stained the head liner and the driver got soaked plus it took over three days with the car in service before they looked at it. Quality control called us from corporate wanting to know if we were pleased with our purchase. another story. Then came the issue with the rear differential having to be replaed. SO DON'T GIVE ME A GUILT TRIP!




On Mar 20 09:32 AM Thadeus Thornton III wrote:

> "Mister Jimmy":
>
> Isn't that the truth! Most , if not all, of the writers here like
> to bash GM constantly. Either they drive foreign brand cars or have
> stock in those brands. I know one writer here, initials "M. L.",
> who insists he has no axe to grind with GM, but "only prefers a "certain
> " German made car " for his tastes.
> It's interesting, GM and Buick in particular, has had cars in the
> top 10 of the J.D. Power ratings for at least the last 3 years. And
> it gets ignored or derided. Now GM has a Buick tied for #1, and these
> critics still want to bash or ignore. If the U.S economy continues
> to suffer and go under, it's elitist attitudes of people like this
> that are self defeating for this country and self fulfilling in their
> desire to see domestic auto companies fail.

Mar 20 04:55 PM

[Mister Jimmy:]

Fujimo, I leased a 2004 Toyota Sienna that suffered a range of electro mechanical and electronic reliability failures while still new, so I can sympathize with you. So happy you didn't add how superior the Japanese products are.

Mar 20 05:40 PM

[FUJIMO:]

My big beef is that they kiss your behind to buy their product but once you sign the bottom line , game is off.


On Mar 20 05:40 PM Mister Jimmy wrote:

> Fujimo, I leased a 2004 Toyota Sienna that suffered a range of electro
> mechanical and electronic reliability failures while still new, so
> I can sympathize with you. So happy you didn't add how superior the
> Japanese products are.

Mar 20 09:35 PM

[reality chk:]

GM vehicles are the best in quality, reliabilty, and fuel economy by model and volume. But their marketing and advertising outdated focusing mostly the 40, 50 and 60 year old market.
With Gen. X and Gen. Y , today's marketing is dominated by name recognition of the foreign manufacturers, with most of the survey answers from 16 to 30 year olds.

Mar 22 11:56 AM

[Russell Ade:]

I just love GM if it bottoms out again I'd buy it.

Apr 24 06:09 PM