It’s always fun to look at reports that show top brands. Is it what you were expecting? Do you recognize all of the brands listed? Can you recall the most recent ad campaign of each of the top brands?

According to Millward Brown, the top 5 brands of 2008 are:

1. Google
2. GE (General Electric)
3. Microsoft
4. Coca-cola
5. China Mobile

No big surprise there, except for China Mobile, which I’m shamed to say I had never heard of. China Mobile Limited was incorporated in 1997 in Hong Kong. According to their website “As the leading mobile services provider in China, the Group boasts the world’s largest mobile network and the world’s largest mobile subscriber base.” IntangibleBusiness.com placed China Mobile at a brand value of USD 30.8 billion, with 440 million users.

And just for fun, here are the top brands per category:

• Apparel: Nike
• Beer: Budweiser
• Cars: Toyota
• Coffee: Nescafe
• Fast Food: McDonald’s

Are you surprised by any of these results?

Branding specialists like to talk about the ‘brand experience’. We like stories. We like adding new dimensions that competitors don’t have.

When the Cola World gets it right…

Singapore Airlines trademarked their smell, KFC trademarked their secret herbs and spices…now this. Coca-cola had been experimenting with the sounds of their product as blipverts in the Intrinsics campaign; 5 second ads with simply their logo and the sound of a Coke being opened or someone going ‘ahh’.

Now they’re using the sounds in order for the ‘Crave’ spot above - after all, if a jingle can be associated with a product and get stuck in your head, why not the sound a product makes?

When the Cola World is a bit off…

Last week the design pitch for Pepsi’s new logo was leaked; 27 pages involving the Mona Lisa, particle theory, feng shui, emoticons, and how these have contributed to Pepsi’s design identity.

Here’s my favorite…

Image: Gawker

Not that any of the document will have much of an effect on what the consumer sees, but here’s a case where the story might just have been taken too far…

(See the doc here courtesy of FastCompany)

For this round, I think Coca-Cola wins.

It’s no longer the ‘Coke side of life’. Goodbye to spectacular, joyful ads like this:

But wait.

This sounds a little familiar:

It’s the ‘new’ song called ‘Open Happiness’, a collaboration by artists from Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco and Gnarls Barkley, amongst others.

The song is a big part of the new Coke tagline and campaigns - which ironically feature much less of the song, opting for some retro and anime influences:

Well, it sounds the same and the creatives are the same (Wieden + Kennedy, one of my favourites), so what’s the big change?

According to Coke reps, the ‘Coke side of life’ message wasn’t translating across cultures, leaving less mature advertising markets confused. The new ‘Open happiness’ message is meant to be simpler and go back to principles we all understand.

We’ll see if it’s enough to get past rival Pepsi’s buzz from SuperBowl advertising.

What do you think?

Is the new message easier to understand?

Does it come across well in the new ads?

Source: AdAge

We’ve been getting a lot of feedback about how many of you dislike the new Tropicana packaging.

But you might be interested in how the new Pepsi logo is faring…

Pedro over at Will it Brand? has done a quick survey of how people think the new logo will affect their consumption of Pepsi.

According to the results…

34% said they thought the old logo was a better fit.

Then again… 26% said it didn’t matter because they would keep drinking Coca-Cola.

Image: Chris Brogan

Pepsi-Cola’s (NYSE: PEP) Sierra Mist brand is re-introducing its holiday flavor for the second year in a row.  Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash and Sierra Mist Free Cranberry Splash will be available for a limited time during the 2007 holiday season in 20-ounce and 2-liter bottles as well as 12-packs and 12-ounce cans.  Read more

Consumers International today announced the 2007 winners of the International Bad Products Awards.  400 delegates from national consumer organizations and governments met in Sydney, Australia to attend Consumers International’s World Conference.  The result - the worst products in the world were selected.

The purpose of the International Bad Products Awards according to the Consumers International website is, “to highlight failings of corporate responsibility and the abuse of consumer trust by internationally recognized brands.”  Consumers International’s Director General, Richard Lloyd further explains:

“These multi-billion dollar companies are global brands with a responsibility to be honest, accountable and responsible. In highlighting their shortcomings Consumers International and its 220 member organisations are holding corporations to account and demanding businesses take social responsibility seriously.”

I think these awards are a great idea.  I agree that companies have a responsibility to consumers who trust the brands those companies sell.  Unfortunately, once a company gains consumers’ trust with a brand, that trust is often taken advantage of as companies prioritize profits over social responsibility and consistent branding. 

Here’s a rundown of the International Bad Products Awards winners: Read more

In another attempt to extend their brand, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is planning to release a new product called Sprite Super Chilled in the U.K. in early 2008 (according to The BrandWiki and Marketing Week).  Apparently, the innovative new packaging actually creates ice upon opening.  Read more

BusinessWeek and Interbrand have compiled their annual list of the top 100 global brands, and the results are not surprising for 2007.  In fact, there are few significant changes within the list. 

The top 10 global brands for 2007 are: Read more

The Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) brand is getting some free advertising at Google Earth.  According to the Google Earth Blog, the advertising is coming from an event that took place back in 1986 when the Coca-Cola logo was made out of 70,000 bottles on a mountain in Chile to celebrate the Coca-Cola Company’s 100th anniversary.  The logo is approximately 100 feet high x 400 feet wide, and it’s raising brand awareness for Coca-Cola again today thanks to Google Earth’s satellite imagery.

Here is the picture from Google Earth: Read more

Earlier this month, I published a post called Brand Free Association where I listed five brand names and asked readers to leave comments providing the first descriptive word that popped into their heads when they read each brand name.  The results are in and they’re a mixed bag of what you’d expect and some surprises.

Read more