Index evaluates brand strength of top companies

The FutureBrand Index has named Google the strongest company brand in 2014.

The FutureBrand Index adds another dimension to the Global Top 100 Companies. It goes beyond financial value alone and measures brand strength through research conducted among thousands of consumers worldwide.

As well as having a strong brand, Google also has a high market capitalisation and a positive ‘Cap Gap’. Microsoft and Walt Disney also rate highly for both brand and financial worth.

The research identified four groups of company brand typology, ‘Future Brands’, ‘Experience Brands’, ‘Purpose Brands’ and ‘Corporate Brands’. Future Brands typically exhibit a positive Cap Gap whilst Corporate Brands exhibit a negative one.

It’s also noteworthy that the Cap Gap follows distinct sector lines, perhaps unsurprisingly, financial and oil and gas companies tend to dominate the top 30% by market capitalisation, but largely appear in the bottom 30% by strength of brand perception. Technology and consumer services and goods companies dominate both the FutureBrand Index top 10 and the market capitalisation rankings.

The FutureBrand Index is delivered by FutureBrand brand consultancy and sanctioned by Global Top 100 Companies creator PwC.

Tom Adams, global head of strategy at FutureBrand says, “Companies are also brands and our results show for the first time the extent to which the strongest in 2014 are able to transcend the positions dictated by opinions of their financial worth; opinions which in any case are formed largely by financial institutions. We felt it was high time for a reappraisal of how company brands are perceived in the round, which takes full account of the affinity felt by consumer stakeholders for their stated purpose and the experience they deliver, to establish a richer perspective on which ones are best positioned to thrive into the future and why. We might even ask if the strongest company brands are undervalued financially, brand perception being a key determinant of the billions of decisions that inform a company’s prospects; from which employer to work for, to whether to buy a product at the given price premium. Crucially, purchase decisions today are guided by knowledge of parent brand reputations, as recent Weber Shandwick research found.”