Research company names Vodafone most powerful British brand

Brand, media and communications research company Millward Brownannounced has released its third annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking - and Vodafone was listed as the most powerful British brand with a value of US$36,962 million.

Since the last ranking Vodafone showed a +75% increase in brand value and moved up the ranking 11 places. Google tops the global list again with a brand value of US$86.1bn followed by GE at US$71.4bn and Microsoft at US$70.8bn.

The company points out that although only six British brands meet the criteria of being a Top 100 global power brand, their combined value did better than average by rising 33% (from US$97,725 billion in 2006 to US$127,220 billion in 2007) compared to a rise of 21% for the Top 100 as a whole.

The 2008 ranking is based on analysis of consumer opinion and publicly available financial data for the period January to December 2007.

Other British brands in the ranking were (in order): Tesco, HSBC, Marks & Spencer, Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank, BP, Royal Bank of Scotland.

�This year�s brand ranking demonstrates the importance of investing in brands, especially in times of market turmoil. Strong brands generate superior returns and protect businesses from risk,� said Joanna Seddon, CEO of Millward Brown Optimor. �Our data shows that strong brands continue to outperform weak ones in terms of market share and share price during recessions.�

The top 10 worldwide brands according to the study are Google, GE, Microsoft, Coca Cola, China Mobile, IBM, Apple, McDonald's, Nokia, Marlboro.