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The world's top ten brands

The branding consultancy Interbrand has made a list of the top 10 brands in the world.

1. McDonald's
2. Coca-Cola
3. Disney
4. Kodak
5. Sony
6. Gilette
7. Mercedes-Benz
8. Levi's
9. Microsoft
10. Marlboro

How to create a global brand

After surveying 250 nationals in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, and Brazil, the Sterling Group came up with 10 key ingredients for creating a successful global brand:

1. Brand essence: Elements in a brand's makeup that touch universal consumer chords and transcend cultures.
2. Brand culture: Great global brands are products of distinctive corporate cultures - born from the inside out.
3. Brand style: Consumers identify with a brand's unique style. Example - Volkswagen.
4. Brand experience: Winning brands are a means to an experience, not just a means to an end. Example - Disney.
5. Brand difference: Creating a competitive difference, even in mature categories.
6. Brand exposure: The best in class get 360-degree exposure.
7. Brand heart: Consumers sort brands emotionally. The great brands speak to the heart as well as the head.
8. Brand champion: Industry leaders that express a point of view through their brands - like Bill Gates.
9. Brand lexicon: Establishing bonds around the world through symbology or language. The Apple icon has become a global symbol for pioneering creativity.
10. Brand value: Building the value of the brand on the corporate balancesheet.

Internet Branding with Banners...How Reliable is it?
The IAB recently announced its findings from an online advertising effectiveness study. The IAB concluded that online advertising has the "same communication power as traditional media." The findings, based on experimental design where one group is exposed to a test ad and one group is exposed to a control ad, are sure to stir debate. The IAB found:

1.Dramatic increase of awareness after a single ad exposure
2.Significant impact on brand perception resulting from one exposure
3.Positive impact on intent to purchase

Another important finding showed that click-through only accounts for 4% of ad awareness, ad banner exposure captured 96% of ad awareness. Sources: MBinteractive, Internet Advertising Bureau, and Forrester Research.

Branding on the Internet:
Here is a tip from Advertising Age: Success in the online community centers around the three "i's" of creating an Internet presence: Information, interactivity and instinct. "Information" means publishing content of high quality that is actionable. "Interactivity" means involving your customers' multiple senses in a learning experience. And "instinct" means knowing your market well enough to avoid copying another company's Web marketing program just because their site looks "cool".