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Interbrand, an international branding consultant, has released its annual list of the top 100 most valuable brands. Here are the top 25:

1. Coca-Cola
2. IBM
3. Microsoft
4. GE
5. Nokia
6. McDonald’s
7. Google
8. Toyota
9. Intel
10. Disney
11. HP
12. Mercedes-Benz
13. Gillette
14. Cisco
15. BMW
16. Louis Vuitton
17. Marlboro
18. Honda
19. Samsung
20. Apple
21. H&M
22. American Express
23. Pepsi
24. Oracle
25. Nescafe

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers. Branding is designed to confirm your company’s credibility, having prospects connect to your products emotionally, motive a buyer and cement user loyalty. Branding is a consumer’s total experience with your product.

An essential component of branding is the trademark, which is a symbol that identifies your company as the provider of a specific good or service in the marketplace. Seeing this list of top brands really makes you realize how valuable your trademarks and other intellectual property can be. Many businesses spend thousands of dollars developing their brands, but never take the additional step of protecting this investment by registering their trademarks. This leaves your company vulnerable and, worse, leaves money on the table.

Trademarks and service marks protect businesses from competitors who would “knock off” their products or services, or competitors who attempt to mislead your customers away. Trademarks and service marks can be obtained at relatively low expense.

I find it very rewarding to work with business owners and marketing professionals to develop thoughtful trademark strategies. So, after spending all that energy and money to develop a look and feel for your company, take a little more time and money to safeguard that investment by talking to trademark counsel.

Tags: Branding; global brands; Interbrand; American Marketing Association

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 11:57 am and is filed under business law, Consumer Law, Intellectual Property, Trademarks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.