The third annual BrandZ ™ Ranking issued today proves that brands are becoming ever more valuable and powerful in driving business growth. Companies that own brands in the BrandZ Top 100 have significantly outperformed the stock market when compared to the S&P 500.

The new edition of the BrandZ Ranking was announced today by leading global market research and consulting firm Millward Brown. It identifies the world’s most powerful brands as measured by their dollar value. The brand ranking is produced by Millward Brown Optimor, the group dedicated to helping companies maximize returns from brand and marketing investments.

The combined value of all brands in the BrandZ Top 100 increased by 21% from $1.6 trillion in 2007 to $1.94 trillion in 2008, more than double the increase experienced the previous year. Google tops the list again with a brand value of $86.1bn followed by GE at $71.4bn and Microsoft at $70.8bn.

“This year’s brand ranking demonstrates the importance of investing in brands, especially in times of market turmoil. Strong brands generate superior returns and protect businesses from risk,” said Joanna Seddon, CEO of Millward Brown Optimor. “Our data shows that strong brands continue to outperform weak ones in terms of market share and share price during recessions.”

The most notable trends emerging from this year's BrandZ Ranking include:

1. Established Asia vs Emerging Asia — Chinese brands continue to get stronger according to the new BrandZ Ranking. Seven brands in this year’s Top 100 come from mature Asian economies: Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. Their aggregate brand value increased by only 7% in the last year (to $111bn). In contrast, the value of the four Chinese brands that made this year’s BrandZ Top 100 increased by 51% (to $124bn). China Mobile, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and ICBC are only just starting to expand beyond China so they have considerable potential for further growth.

2. Continued Rise of the BRICs — Emerging markets play a key role in driving growth for international brands, for example Apple and Gucci. The new BrandZ Ranking shows that domestic brands from emerging economies are gaining momentum. Chinese brands performed strongly and Russian-based mobile operator MTS entered the ranking at number 89. MTS is the first Russian brand to make the Top 100 list with a brand value of $8.1bn. Other BRIC brands to watch in future brand rankings include Lukoil, Beeline, and Baltika from Russia, ICICI from India, as well as Brahma, Petrobras, and Bradesco from Brazil.

3. Technology Boom — The technology sector (including mobile operators), which accounted for 28 of the top 100 brands, outperformed all other categories in this year’s BrandZ Ranking, with a brand value growth of $187.5bn. This is more than half of the Top 100’s total increase.

Commenting on this year's BrandZ Ranking, Eileen Campbell, Global CEO of Millward Brown said: "We've been tracking brand equity on WPP's behalf for 10 years, so we know what hard work it is and what a fantastic achievement it is for any brand to achieve BrandZ Top 100 status. We'd like to congratulate these companies for their extraordinary performance and commitment to the power of great brands and the role that effective marketing plays in building them. Particularly in a challenging global economy, we were delighted to see such high growth, reconfirming our assertion that sustained marketing support is a winning strategy, even in tough business conditions."

The BrandZ Ranking is the only brand ranking based on primary research — it therefore reflects the perceptions of people who really count — brand users and consumers. Derived from WPP's BrandZ database, the world's largest repository of brand equity data, the BrandZ study has interviewed more than one million consumers globally and covers 50,000 brands worldwide. The BrandZ Ranking is the first study to cover both business and consumer brands and to include predictive metrics of future brand performance. Market performance metrics and financial data were obtained from Datamonitor and Bloomberg respectively.

The complete BrandZ Ranking report with category and regional breakdowns as well as additional analysis is available online at www.millwardbrown.com/mboptimor, www.brandz.com and at www.ft.com

Millward Brown, a global leader in brand, communications and media research, today announces that the Finnish research agency — Kuulas — will be joining Millward Brown as a licensee, further expanding Millward Brown’s presence in Europe.

Based in Helsinki, Kuulas was established in 2005 and has rapidly grown to become one of the key research agencies in Finland. The newly created Kuulas Millward Brown will offer the full suite of qualitative and quantitative Millward Brown solutions to clients in Finland and the Baltics.

The Millward Brown office in Finland will be led by the existing CEO of Kuulas, Pekka Kivimaa who has over 18 years of expertise in advertising, marketing, media and retail.

Andrea Bielli, CEO of Millward Brown Continental Europe, Middle East and North Africa said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with the talented team at Kuulas. We have been working with clients in Finland through our Danish and Swedish offices for many years and this new partnership underscores our commitment to them. The Nordics have a high potential for development and Kuulas will work closely with our offices in Denmark and Sweden to make Millward Brown’s services available to the whole region. With our combined resources and the innovative thinking that both organizations are known for, we see this as a fantastic opportunity to offer clients a stronger service.”

Commenting on the new relationship, Pekka Kivimaa said: “Despite our relatively short history we have already been able to bring fresh thinking to the Finnish research market. What makes us different is our passion and ability to bring relevant business insights as well as data to our clients and our focus on understanding and meeting the needs of our clients. We are very proud to represent Millward Brown.”

Global market research and consulting firm Millward Brown announces a strategic partnership between Millward Brown Optimor, its strategic consulting unit dedicated to maximizing the financial returns from brand strategy and marketing investment, and Brazilian brand consultancy Brand Analytics.

Brand Analytics is the leading brand valuation and brand strategy consultancy in Brazil. The firm provides quantitative support for brand positioning, brand architecture, and brand strategy implementation. Like Millward Brown Optimor, Brand Analytics focuses on linking brand metrics to financials in order to maximize shareholder value creation through brand management.

Commenting on the partnership, Joanna Seddon, CEO of Millward Brown Optimor, said: “Brand Analytics and Millward Brown Optimor are a natural fit. Our partnership results in a unique offer for the Brazilian market that combines Millward Brown Optimor’s global resources and experience with Brand Analytics’ unrivalled understanding of the Brazilian market.” She added: “We are delighted to work with the Brand Analytics team on local and global projects.”

Eduardo Tomiya, CEO of Brand Analytics, said: “Together, Brand Analytics and Millward Brown Optimor have many decades of experience in brand valuation, brand strategy and marketing ROI. Our partnership will generate momentum for brand consulting in Brazil and throughout Latin America” He added: “We look forward to working together to maximize our clients’ financial returns on brand and marketing investments.”

Millward Brown, a global leader in brand, media and communications research has appointed Patricia Driver to the newly created position of Managing Director, Millward Brown Singapore. Driver relocates from Millward Brown UK, where she was the Head of Client Service for Millward Brown’s London office.

Commenting on the appointment, Gonzalo Fuentes, Managing Director of Millward Brown South East Asia said: “Our Singapore-based business has been growing strongly, so we felt the time was right for this office to have its own Managing Director. Patricia has both client-side and agency experience and brings with her deep qualitative and quantitative knowledge. Her addition to the Singapore team reflects our commitment to building a team of client partners across the region which have strong management skills and importantly, have a passion for helping clients build strong brands and services.”

Added Driver: “I am delighted to be joining Millward Brown’s Africa Asia Pacific team. I am looking forward to working with the team at Millward Brown Singapore to deliver a market-leading service to our clients.”

Born and raised in Canada, Driver began her career at Research International in the UK. She then worked client-side at American Express, as VP of Global Marketplace Insights, leading research and competitive intelligence for the international consumer business, as well as heading advertising research globally, before taking up the role of VP Strategy for MasterCard. She has been with Millward Brown since 2006.

Millward Brown, a global leader in brand, media and communications research, today announced a number of senior new appointments to the Management Board of the newly formed Millward Brown India.

Managing Director Shishir Varma will be joined by Shiv Moulee who will lead the Mumbai office and regional marketing solutions for African Asia Pacific; Ritesh Ghosal who will head-up the Delhi office; and Praveen Ramachandra who will oversee the South India operation from a base in Bangalore. Shishir will also be supported by Pranay Singhvi who joins as Finance Director and will lead the Finance team.

Shishir Varma said: “With these new appointments we have a very strong team of marketing minds leading our new company. Between them, they have experience of working for and with many of the biggest brands in the world. I am really excited that we can offer this level of expertise to our clients who are enjoying a period of great opportunity as one of the fastest growing regions in the world.”

Travyn Rhall, CEO for Africa Asia Pacific said: “The team we have leading our business in India is a dream team with extensive marketing and international experience. Our clients in India are asking Millward Brown to bring global best practice to solve their marketing solutions. They are particularly interested in knowing how other markets like India have developed from a marketing point of view. Shishir, Shiv, Ritesh and Praveen have all the expertise our clients are asking for and we are thrilled to have them leading our business with Pranay handling the Finances.”

Millward Brown India officially started trading on Monday March 3 2008.