The World's Most Valuable Brands 2014
The most valuable brands span the globe and a wide range of industries. Forbes valued the leading brands based on their earnings over the past three years and the relevance of the brands in their industry. We required brands to have at least some presence in the U.S to make the final cut. These are the cream of the crop.
1. Apple
Brand value: $124.2 billion
1-year change: 19%
The Apple brand is worth twice as much as any other brand on the planet by our count. The company sold 39.3 million iPhones in its latest quarter and could sell as many as 60 million during the last three months of 2014 with the holiday selling season. Apple also moved 12.3 million iPads and 5.5 million Macs last quarter.
.jpg)
2. Microsoft
Brand value: $63.0 billion
1-year change: 11%
The value of the brand jumped 11% after being flat for the previous three years, as Microsoft struggles to make the transition to a mobile world. Microsoft is moving away from the PC and software licensing model towards cloud offerings. Microsoft inked a five-year, $400 million sponsorship with the NFL last year. The pact includes Surface tablet computers on the sidelines in 2014 that download high-def photographs of plays as they occur.
.jpg)
3. Google
Brand value: $56.6 billion
1-year change: 19%
Google is the generic term for the search category, but what separates Google from brands like Kleenex and Xerox is the amount of money it generates. The Google brand generated $16 billion in earnings before interest and taxes over the last 12 months. It is one of the biggest ad spenders in tech at $2.8 billion in 2013.
.jpg)
4. Coca-Cola
Brand value: $56.1 billion
1-year change: 2%
Fewer soda drinkers in the U.S., China and Brazil are slowing the growth of the Coca-Cola brand. Coca-Cola sold 13.5 billion cases of its signature brand in 2013, up just 0.6% from the prior year. Those sales represent half of the company's total soda volume.
.jpg)
5. IBM
Brand value: $47.9 billion
1-year change: -5%
IBM has been working on transforming itself from a hardware company to one that is cloud-centric, but it is a challenging move to make for a $100 billion-in-sales company. Revenues have dropped 10 straight quarters at Big Blue. IBM has the most U.S. patents for 21 straight years with a record 6,809 in 2013 fueled by a push into big-data services.
.jpg)
6. McDonald's
Brand value: $39.9 billion
1-year change: 1%
The fast food behemoth is slumping in the U.S. and abroad, as it struggles with consumers changing eating habits and competition from upstarts like Chipotle. Global same-store sales slid 3.3% in the third quarter. McDonald's is still the biggest food brand in the world with 35,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries serving nearly 70 million people every day.
.jpg)
7. General Electric
Brand value: $37.1 billion
1-year change: 9%
GE is moving away from a being a consumer company to one focused on business-to-business relationships. The latest move was the sale of its appliance division to Sweden's Electrolux for $3.3 billion. Electrolux still plans to sell appliances under the GE brand. General Electric is the only remaining member of the original Dow Jones Industrial Average launched in 1896.
.jpg)
8. Samsung
Brand value: $35.0 billion
1-year change: 19%
The world's largest smartphone maker by shipments is facing stiff competition from Apple on the high-end and Chinese handset makers on the low end, which is eating into profits. The South Korean giant liberally uses sports stars like LeBron James and Maria Sharapova in its advertising, which had a budget of $3.8 billion last year. The brand caused a stir when one of its newest endorsers, David Ortiz, took a selfie with President Obama in April when the Red Sox visited the White House after winning the World Series.
.jpg)
9. Toyota
Brand value: $31.3 billion
1-year change: 22%
Toyota ranks a close second in Consumer Reports' annual survey of the most reliable car brands, with only Toyota-owned Lexus beating it out. Toyota is on track in 2014 to be the best-selling global brand for a third straight year. Company profits doubled last year.
.jpg)
10. Louis Vuitton
Brand value: $29.9 billion
1-year change: 5%
Louis Vuitton is the world's most valuable luxury brand. Its products include leather goods, handbags, trunks, shoes, watches, jewelry and accessories. Most of these are adorned with the famous LV monogram. It is one of the most profitable brands in the world with profit margins approaching 40%.
.jpg)
11. BMW
Brand value: $28.8 billion
1-year change: 4%
The Ultimate Driving Machine is the global sales market leader for luxury vehicles. In 2013, BMW vehicle sales hit a record 1.66 million, up 7.5% over the previous year. The next generation of BMW cars are expected to look more different than one another, according to BMW brand design director Karim Habib.
.jpg)
12. Cisco
Brand value: $28.0 billion
1-year change: 4%
The world's largest networking equipment maker is facing slumping sales in China and Brazil under CEO John Chambers, who has run the company for nearly 20 years. The company rolled out a $100 million ad campaign highlighting the "Internet of Everything" last year, but typically eschews big ad spends with a budget of only $196 million in the last fiscal year.
.jpg)
13. Intel
Brand value: $28.0 billion
1-year change: -9%
Intel's brand value is down for a second straight year as it falls out of the top 10. The company has struggled with the transformation to smartphones and tablets as nearly two-thirds of revenue comes from the slow-growing PC business. The third quarter offered some good news as Intel shipped a record 100 million microprocessors.
.jpg)
14. Disney
Brand value: $27.4 billion
1-year change: 19%
The Walt Disney Company has transformed itself into a renowned global enterprise, with businesses operating in both established and developing markets. Disney has five vacation destinations with 11 theme parks and 44 resorts in North America, Europe and Asia. A sixth spot is under construction in Shanghai. The Shanghai Disney Resort will be Disney's first on mainland China and is expected to open at the end of 2015. All of the parks act as a giant marketing campaign for the brand's movies and consumer products.
.jpg)
15. Oracle
Brand value: $25.8 billion
1-year change: -4%
Legendary CEO Larry Ellison stepped down from running the company in September, although the world's fifth richest man will stay on as Chief Technology Officer of the database solutions company. Oracle has 400,000 corporate customers across 145 countries.
.jpg)
16. AT&T
Brand value: $24.9 billion
1-year change: 3%
AT&T hit a sports sponsorship grand slam between June and January as the venue naming rights partner for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, World Series winner San Francisco Giants and Dallas Cowboys, who are hosting the first college football title game at AT&T Stadium. The high-profile events provide millions of dollars of exposure for AT&T. It is not cheap, though. The 25-year naming rights deal for the Cowboys cost a record $500 million.
.jpg)
17. Mercedes-Benz
Brand value: $23.8 billion
1-year change: 1%
Innovation has been one of the hallmarks of the Mercedes-Benz brand. The 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class includes 3D cameras, radar, night vision, LED headlights and taillights that adjust their brightness automatically. Mercedes focuses its sponsorship spending on events that attract a well-heeled crowd. Its three pillars are golf, tennis and New York’s Fashion Week. Mercedes won its first Constructors' Championship as the top team in F1 in 2014 thanks to the dominant performances of drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
.jpg)
18. Facebook
Brand value: $23.7 billion
1-year change: 74%
Various surveys report that fewer teens are using the social sharing site, but the Facebook brand still carries tremendous weight with 864 million daily active users in September, up 19% over the prior year. Revenue for the latest quarter jumped 59% with advertising representing 92.5% of total revenue. The company's mission: "Give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected."
.jpg)
19. Wal-Mart
Brand value: $23.3 billion
1-year change: 7%
Covering more than 1 billion square feet across the globe, Wal-Mart stores serve 245 million customers each week across 11,000 stores in 27 countries, including Brazil, Chile, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. The company operates more than 4,000 U.S. locations. Sales growth has slowed, but Wal-Mart remains the world's biggest company with $473 billion in revenue in its latest fiscal year.
.jpg)
20. Honda
Brand value: $23.2 billion
1-year change: 10%
Kelly Blue Book named Honda as the Most Trusted Brand in 2014 as part of its Brand Image Awards. Honda has built a reputation for reliability and quality over decades. The Honda Accord was the best-selling sedan in the U.S. in 2013, narrowly ahead of the Toyota Camry, and the Honda Civic ranked third.
.jpg)
21. Nike
Brand value: $22.1 billion
1-year change: 22%
The Nike brand is firing on all cylinders. It had double-digit growth in the mature North America market last year with record profitability. The Women's business is growing faster than the Men's, and the $5 billion business is expected to increase 40% by 2017. Nike has rapidly closed the gap with Adidas in soccer and is poised to pass the German firm in the world's biggest sport. The Swoosh has a near monopoly in basketball with 95% market share in the U.S., including the Jordan brand.
.jpg)
22. Verizon
Brand value: $21.6 billion
1-year change: 11%
Verizon completed its acquisition this year of Vodafone Group's 45% indirect interest in Verizon Wireless in a deal valued at $130 billion, putting the biggest U.S. wireless carrier brand under one owner. Verizon's investment in wireless, fiber-optic and IP networks allows the company to deliver connected services on a global scale.
.jpg)
23. Budweiser
Brand value: $21.4 billion
1-year change: 1%
Budweiser (including Bud Light) is the biggest brand for Anheuser-Busch InBev. The global beer giant was created in 2008 when Belgium-based InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch. Bud is now the No. 3 beer brand in the U.S. behind Bud Light and Coors Light, as volume in the U.S. shrank for the 25th straight year in 2013. The brand has made strides internationally under AB InBev's watch with global volume up 6.4% in 2013 on strength in China, Brazil, Russia and the U.K.
.jpg)
24. Amazon.com
Brand value: $21.4 billion
1-year change: 45%
Amazon.com opened its online store in 1995 and sales have already reached $85 billion in less than 20 years, bigger than any U.S. retailer outside of Wal-Mart, Costco and Kroger. The brand has a loyal customer base with its Prime members, who spend almost twice as much as non-Prime members. Amazon had a rare misstep with its Fire phone, which has been a slow seller. Amazon slashed prices to $0.99 to help move inventory.
.jpg)
25. SAP
Brand value: $20.7 billion
1-year change: 6%
With 74% of the world’s transaction revenue and $16 trillion or retail purchases touching an SAP system, the German enterprise software leader is at the center of today’s technology revolution. SAP has 263,000 customers across 188 countries.
.jpg)
Thao Hanh
Source: forbes
From over-the-top mud wrestling to galactic electronic music gatherings, here are 20 all-time parties and festivals you should make it to at least once in your lifetime.
Warren Buffett became the world’s second-richest person on 5th December, 2014 after shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/B) reached a record high.
Around 100 of the best photos from the Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards are on display at an exhibition that opened in Hanoi on December 4.
Viet Nam's domain name ."vn" had the largest number of registrations among ASEAN countries' domain names as of September 2014, the Viet Nam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) revealed on Friday.
When we hear animals making sounds, it usually seems like just noise because we don’t understand what they’re saying. But researchers have found that animals actually communicate a lot like us, if you know what those sounds mean.
.jpg)
Ho Chi Minh Museum is a celebrity souvenir museum. This is a cultural project to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh. He has been recognized “ a Vietnamese hero of national liberation and a great man of culture” by the UNESCO in November 1987.
It’s not just beautiful lions and gorillas that are threatened. These less glamorous animals need our help too, and the Ugly Animal Preservation Society is trying to draw attention to them.
As travelers, it's sort of par for the course to have a running knowledge of favorite places to stay when traveling abroad. Whether it's a five-star resort on a secluded island, or a cozy bed and breakfast overlooking a stunning mountain range, everyone has a favorite place to call a home away from home. From the farthest reaches of the world to a city that may just be in your very own backyard, see which hotels and resorts made the top 100 list.
.jpg)
Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park has an area of 123.326 ha. It is a part of the oldest major karst area in Asia which was formed over 400 million years ago.