Best Global Brands: Nintendo barely hanging on as Apple, Google, Coca-Cola top 2014 rankings

THE glory days of Super Mario and Zelda appear to be well and truly over. The once-great Japanese gaming giant is in trouble.

Sega. Wii. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

THE glory days of Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda appear to be well and truly over.

Nintendo, the once-great Japanese gaming giant, has plummeted down the list of the world’s most valuable brands, and it probably won’t even make the top 100 next year.

That’s according to the annual Best Global Brands list released by marketing company Interbrand.

Poor old Nintendo’s brand value dropped 33 per cent in 2014 to $A4.63 billion, putting it at number 100 out of 100.

Interbrand CEO Damian Borchok said it was doubtful the company would make the list in 2015. “They just haven’t been able to figure out what’s next,” he said.

“The Wii produced a lot of buzz but after a while it just sat dormant, not only from a sales perspective but in people’s homes. A lot of people entered the market for this product who weren’t traditional gamers, and after a while the novelty falls off.”

The major theme emerging from this year’s list is the rise of tech companies. Not surprisingly, Apple, Facebook and Google have emerged as the big winners.

Apple, which was named the world’s most valuable brand for the first time last year, taking the spot from perennial winner Coca-Cola, has again topped the list with a brand value of $A134.26 billion — that’s a 21 per cent increase on 2013.

Google came second with a brand value of $A121.35 billion, up 15 per cent on 2013. Facebook, while further down the list at number 29, increased its brand value by a massive 86 per cent to $A16.21 billion.

Apple has been named the world’s most valuable brand for the second year in a row.

“It’s not surprising that Apple has kept the top spot, but the bigger story is really the rise of the tech brands. It suggests a very substantial shift in the nature of our global economy,” Mr Borchok said.

“If you looked back a few years, we had US Steel, some of the big oil producers. Steve Jobs hated people using the word ‘brand’ — he was always talking about Apple being a product company. He said you built your brand from the things you did rather than the things you said.

“Looking at companies like Google or Facebook, it’s a similar story. They’re delivering products of services putting customers at the centre. The new currency is having more customers and knowing more about them.”

Telecommunications and mobile company Huawei has also made history by becoming the first Chinese company to make the list, debuting at number 94 with a brand value of $4.87 billion.

The automotive industry, too, has had a resurgence. “We’re only six years post-GFC when the carmakers were really quite challenged and almost became the villains,” Mr Borchok said.

“They have recognised and embraced the shift, whether that’s alternative fuel sources or integrated technologies. It wasn’t too many years ago we hadn’t considered the chance of a hybrid, and now we have high-performance electric cars.”

The top risers this year were Facebook (up 86 per cent), Audi (up 27 per cent), Amazon (up 25 per cent), Volkswagen (up 23 per cent) and Nissan (up 23 per cent).

The annual ranking takes into account a range of factors including financial performance, global footprint, public awareness and long-term outlook.

BEST GLOBAL BRANDS 2014

1. Apple ($A134.26 billion)

2. Google ($A121.35 billion)

3. Coca-Cola ($A92.13 billion)

4. IBM ($A81.60 billion)

5. Microsoft ($A69.07 billion)

6. GE ($A51.37 billion)

7. Samsung ($A51.35 billion)

8. Toyota ($A47.88 billion)

9. McDonald’s ($A47.73 billion)

10. Mercedes-Benz ($A38.79 billion)

Source: Interbrand