CoreBrand 2007 Brand Power Rankings

Posted on | March 20, 2008 |

Observations by James Gregory, CEO, CoreBrand

The number one and two spots on the annual CoreBrand Corporate Branding IndexÂ® ranking, Coca-Cola Company and Johnson & Johnson, are unchanged since 2004.

Who is winning the battle for share of corporate reputation? Harley-Davidson continues to rev its engine, having improved five places since 2004 and two in the past year to attain 4th place!

Harley-Davidson Brand Ranking
4 - 2007
6 - 2006
10 — 2004

2006-07 Variation +2
2004-07 Variation +5

Starbucks’ meteoric rise in brand stature slowed slightly in the past year. Having improved12 places since 2004, it moved up three places in 2007.

Starbucks Brand Ranking
10 -2007
13 -2006
22 -2004

2006-07 Variation +3
2004-07 Variation +12

The retail industry took it on the chin as stalwarts stalled. Wal-Mart’s ranking dropped 11 places since 2004 and eight spots last year. Home Depot lost ground, dropping 34 places since 2004, but by dropping only five spots since last year they have slowed the bleeding.

Home Depot Brand Ranking
54 -2007
49 -2006
20 -2004

2006-07 Variation -5
2004-07 Variation -34

Wal-Mart Brand Ranking
32 -2007
24 -2006
21 -2004

2006-07 Variation -8
2004-07 Variation -11

Rivalries can be found in the automotive sector where number one Toyota struggles to maintain its lead while American manufacturers continue to fiddle.

Toiletries is an interesting category; firms like Revlon, Estee Lauder and L’Oreal, having put a great deal of effort into their brands, are seeing the payoff with huge leaps in their rankings.

Companies dropping fast: Whirlpool, Nestle, Kraft Foods, Sara Lee, Motorola.

Companies ascending quickly: Bayer, Visa, Mattel, MasterCard, Fruit of the Loom, Nissan, Toshiba.

Microsoft’s corporate brand has declined in stunning fashion over thepast four years. In 2004 they were ranked number 11 of the 1,200companies included in the CoreBrand Corporate Branding IndexÂ® of business leaders in the US. In 2007 Microsoft dropped to number 59, a decline of 48 places!
The effect of Apple’s “Hi, I’m a MAC” advertising campaign may have taken its toll on Microsoft. The launching of a series of new products, following a long dormant period, will be watched to see if it will have any positive impact on the Microsoft brand.

Microsoft Brand Ranking
59 -2007
38 -2006
11 –2004

2006-07 Change -21
2004-07 Change -48
Read the whole report

Brand Power Ranking Methodology

CoreBrand tracks 1,200 leading corporate brands and maintains the largest continuous brand benchmark tracking system.

The CoreBrand Database

Each year CoreBrand conduct 12,000 telephone interviews among business leaders to measure their perceptions of the best corporate brands.

This senior business audience (VP level and above) represents the investment community, potential business partners, and business customers across 49 industries.

400 respondents rate each company; 1,200 companies are measured each year.

We collect financial performance data and communications investment information to understand the support behind these brands.

The Brand Power Measurement:

Respondents are first asked to rate their familiarity with a series of companies.

Scores are a weighted average of the top three responses.

Respondents who have a qualified level of familiarity are then asked to rate their favorability of those companies across 3 dimensions.

Overall Reputation, Perception of Management and Investment Potential attributes provide insight to the source of favorable/unfavorable impressions.

Scores are a weighted average of the top three responses to create a measure of favorability.

Familiarity and favorability data are combined to create Brand Power, a single measure of the size and quality of a corporate brand.

This number provides a single measure of the size of a company’s audience and its disposition towards the company.