Turmoil in the Rankings

(page 2 of 2)

Browse Issues

Browse the BusinessWeek Archive

Related Items

• Table: 100 Best Global Brands Interactive Table
• Picking the Winners Methodology
• Slide Show: The 100 Best Global Brands

Story Tools

• post a comment
• e-mail this story
• print this story
• order a reprint
• suggest a story
• digg this
• save to del.icio.us

Banks need a whole team of plastic surgeons."

EATING AT HOME

Another nonsurprise: Auto brands tanked. Two exceptions were high-end Ferrari (FIATY) and low-end Hyundai. Ferrari, thanks to cachet and inventory control, continued to sell its models briskly. Hyundai boosted ad spending and aggressively promoted its Assurance program, which allows buyers who lose their jobs to return cars. Hyundai's brand value slipped 5%, but it moved up three places to No. 69.

This year seven brands made the list for the first time. The seven are the apparel brands Burberry, Polo (RL), and Puma, low-cost food companies Campbell Soup and Burger King (BKC), cosmetics maker Lancôme, and the tech firm Adobe Systems (ADBE), whose Flash player is the de facto video standard on the Web.

Food brands, including Nestlé, Heinz (HWZ), Pepsi (PEP), Kellogg's (K), Campbell's, and Danone, benefited because consumers began eating at home more. The food companies also got an unexpected windfall: Having raised prices to offset soaring commodity prices last fall, they have enjoyed higher profits since raw material prices fell back to earth.

Big Food is fighting the growing private-label threat by appearing to be anything but generic. Kellogg is boosting its advertising spending to draw attention to such new products as Special K Protein Shakes, Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies, and Froot Loops with added fiber. Nestlé, meanwhile, has responded to consumers' newfound craving for simplicity by launching a new Häagen-Dazs ice cream line with just five all-natural ingredients.

Fashion brands also did surprisingly well this year. Several, such as Louis Vuitton (LVMUY) and Gucci, benefited by expanding into China and the Middle East, where economies held up relatively well compared with the West. Luxury companies specializing in handbags and other accessories—including Vuitton, Gucci, and Hermès—generally performed better than those best known for apparel, such as Chanel. Accessories are simply seen as a smarter buy nowadays: Someone who splurges $1,000 on a new handbag can make use of it every day—not so for a similarly priced dress. Meanwhile, the affordable "fast-fashion" chains H&M and Zara rocketed up our list.

The recession may be abating, but life isn't going to get much easier for corporate marketing chiefs. They are already under enormous pressure to justify their budgets. And consumers are widely expected to remain frugal long after the global economy revives. "In saturated, shrinking markets," says Interbrand's Frampton, "competition becomes even tighter."

With Matthew Boyle in New York and Carol Matlack in Paris

Return to 100 Best Brands Table of Contents

Helm is marketing editor for BusinessWeek in New York.

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.