The A-List

With the recent rollout of Millward Brown’s 2014 BrandZ^TM Top 100 Brands list, we can tell who’s in and who’s out. BrandZ is a metric specifically designed by Millward Brown and conducted over three steps to evaluate the performance and success of the world’s most influential companies. Every brand brings something completely different and unique to the table, yet BrandZ is able to compare companies on the same scale and truly look at financial value, brand contribution and brand value. Below you can find the video of this year’s A-List.

The thing is, companies and big brands don’t just make the list because they gross the most profit; instead they are ranked by the values they embody, the needs they satisfy and the further successes they inspire. Key takeaways mentioned on the Millward Brown website include knowing the customers, staying relevant, using technology and creativity for competitive advantages, and being meaningfully different. These aspects are both part of learning about the consumer insights created by branding and advertising, as well as evaluating marketing performance in a universal way. By building a database of metrics like BrandZ, it becomes very clear what some companies are doing to be the most successful.

As an additional measure, Millward Brown evaluates the top 100 on their social media vitality. Social media presence is crucial, as seen in present day throughout politics, entertainment, and the workforce. This dimension has allowed Millward Brown to objectively rank brands based on both frequency and favourability.

Top 100 brands are those that have utilized market research, have specially customized marketing strategies to conquer international markets and digital markets, and who have really resonated with who their customers are and what they can do for them. 

This year it appears that around three Australian companies made the top 100, including Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and Woolworths. Brands like these are also ever expanding and will always play a large part in consumers lives.

Christine Drpich
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School.