AT&T (NYSE:T), China Mobile, Vodafone and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) made the top 20 list of the Brandz top 100 most valuable global brands of 2011, according to a study by research agency Millward Brown.
AT&T ranked No. 7 on the list and was the highest ranking telecom brand. Millward Brown said AT&T's brand is valued at $69.9 billion. China Mobile came in at No. 9, Vodafone was No. 12 and Verizon was No. 13. Other telecom brands that made the list include Research in Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry at No. 25, Samsung at No. 67 and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) at No. 81. Interestingly, U.S. operator Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) did not make the top 100 list, nor did T-Mobile USA. However T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom was ranked No. 19.
The No. 1 brand on the list was Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which bumped Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) down to No. 2, ending Google's four-year reign as the most valuable global brand. Millward Brown said Apple's brand is now worth $153 billion--almost half Apple's market capitalization.
The Brandz Top 100 most valuable global brands study identifies and ranks brands based on their dollar value, which combines financial data with consumer measures of brand equity.
The study found that consumers in developing markets are much more likely to trust and recommend their telecom providers than in the Western world. It also found that telecom providers that leverage their brand desire are able to command a price premium.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this Brandz list of top telecom brands
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