Eight Russian Brands Included In World’s 500 Most Valuable Brands

Feb. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- •   Impressive performances by Sberbank, Gazprom and Beeline

•   Three new Russian brands make world’s 500 most valuable brands


Sberbank, which has posted a 159% increase in the value of its brand, has reinforced its position as Russia’s Most Valuable Brand according to the BrandFinance® Global 500 brand index, an annual survey of the world’s 500 most valuable brands published this week by Brand Finance plc, the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy.

Sberbank keeps top spot in Russia, climbing 92 ranking places overall from 149 to 57 after increasing its brand value to US$11,729 million. Gazprom maintains its position as the second most valuable Russian brand, climbing 138 places in the Global 500 from 282 to 144 on the back of 133% increase in brand value this year.

It has also been an impressive year for telecoms company Beeline, which is Russia’s third most valuable brand after posting a 74% increases in brand value. Beeline’s brand is now valued at US$4,116 million.

Overall there are eight Russian brands that make the Global 500 this year. Appearing for the first time this year are Lukoil (4th in Russia, 286 overall), retailer Magnit (7, 462) and iron and steel producer Severstal (8, 469). MTS and Rosneft complete the Russian representation, rising from 426 to 317 and from 438 to 403 in the Global 500 on the back of an 88% and a 57% increase in brand value respectively.

Elsewhere in the survey, retail giant Walmart, whose brand value increased 2% this year, retains top spot. Google has risen in the table the first to the second, whilst Coca-Cola enjoys a 4% increase in its brand value, extending its advantage over main rival Pepsi. Top ten status is also given to technology brands including IBM (4), Microsoft (5) and hp (9). GE and Toyota complete the top ten.

Suffering most were non-essential sectors like airlines and retail. Of the Top Five airline brands, only Singapore Airlines, which came out top in that sector, climbed the table. The biggest airline ‘fallers’ were Japan Airlines, American Airlines and British Airways, down 181, 169 and 117 places respectively.

In the retail sector, excepting Walmart, the picture is grim. The only other retailers to climb in the top ten retail brands were Walmart-owned ASDA, up from 107 to 80; H&M, which rose from 146 and 93 and Home Depot, which is up from 24 to 21 in the overall Global 500. McDonald’s remains the second most valuable retail brand, despite slipping from number 12 to number 17 in the Global 500.

Tesco, which has aspirations of international expansion itself, saw its brand value rise by a significantly higher rate than Walmart – up 26% to US$20,654 million, though its brand value remains only half that of its American rival.

Of the ‘new’ iconic brands, every businessman’s favourite accessory, Blackberry, appears in the Global 500 for the first time whilst Apple has climbed from number 27 to 19 with a 45% increase in its brand value. Santander, the Spanish banking group, rise from 41 to 12 due to their UK major banking acquisitions.


For further information contact:

Irene Kyme, Howard Robinson or Ursula Delaney
020 7360 7878
ikyme@teamspiritpr.com or hrobinson@teamspiritpr.com



About Brand Finance Global 500
Brand Finance first issued its global report into the relative equity of the 250 top global brands back in 2007.  In 2008, the study was extended to analyse the top 500 brands worldwide.  
The Global 500 report is published annually and incorporates data from all listed companies globally. Each brand is accorded a brand rating: a benchmarking study of the strength, risk and future potential of a brand relative to its competitor set as well as a brand value: a summary measure of the financial strength of the brand.


About Brand Finance
Brand Finance plc, the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy, advises strongly branded organisations on maximising their brand value through effective management of their brands and intangible assets.  Founded in 1996, Brand Finance has performed thousands of branded business, brand and intangible asset valuations worth trillions of dollars.

Its clients include international brand owners, tax authorities, Intellectual Property lawyers and investment banks. Its work is frequently peer-reviewed by the big four audit practices and its reports have been accepted by various regulatory bodies, including the UK Takeover Panel.

Brand Finance is headquartered in London and has a network of international offices in Amsterdam, Athens, Bangalore, Barcelona, Cape Town, Colombo, Dubai, Geneva, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Singapore, Toronto and Zagreb.