Google Voted "Most Valuable Brand"

By: Money_Morning

Kyle Anderson writes: Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) stock may be down 4% in 2014, but that hasn't impacted Google's brand equity. Yesterday (Tuesday), Google was named the world's most valuable brand according to research firm MillwardBrown's "2014 BrandZ Top 100" ranking.

Google surpassed Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), which had held the top spot the previous three years.

According to MillwardBrown, Google's brand value rose 40% compared to last year and is estimated at $159 billion. Apple's brand value dropped 20% to $147.9 billion due to "growing perception that it is no longer redefining technology for consumers."

"Google has been hugely innovative in the last year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intelligence and a multitude of partnerships that see its Android operating system becoming embedded in other goods such as cars," MillwardBrown's Managing Director Nick Cooper said. "All of this activity sends a very strong signal to consumers about what Google is about and it has coincided with a slowdown at Apple."

The report indicates that the consumer perception of Apple has suffered since Steve Jobs passed away in 2011. The fact that the company has not unveiled any revolutionary products in the past several years also affected the ranking. The release of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad last decade all contributed greatly to Apple's brand equity.

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MillwardBrown takes consumer measures of brand equity from more than 150,000 consumer interviews and combines them with financial data to create the ranking.

Traditionally, making the list has been a good indicator for the 100 stocks...

In its report, the company noted that the stocks of Top 100 companies have gained 81% since the ranking was created in 2006. That compares to a gain of 45% for the S&P 500 during the same time.

Additionally, the brand equity of the 100 companies listed has continued to climb. Today, the top 100 companies are worth $2.9 trillion in brand equity. That's up 49% from where they were in 2008 at the start of the recession.

Google stock is down 4% in 2014, but is up 18.5% in the last 12 months. GOOG stock was up 1.4% today following the MillwardBrown.

Does Google's brand equity affect how you will play GOOG stock? Join the conversation on Twitter @<a target="_blank" href="http://www.twitter.com/moneymorning" rel="external nofollow">moneymorning using #Google or $GOOG.

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Source : http://moneymorning.com/2014/05/21/good-news-for-goog-stock-brand-voted-most-valuable/

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